Pantographically milling round edges was much easier than cutting sharp angles, especially in counter forms therefore many new wood type variations were realized in the rounded style. Over the course of history, many new designs grew out of the tools that were available at that time. Nesbitt’s Gothic Round Condensed was one of these variations. Letters were condensed, expanded or equipped with outlines or shades. In the first half of the 19th century, wood type producers experimented with variations of one particular design (in this case gothic) to expand their repertoire. The exact origin of this style is not entirely clear, but one of the earliest appearances is a wood type example with round corners documented in George F. A look at tools, technology and trends shall reveal the complex universe of round and rounded type. At the same time, such typefaces have been convincing solutions for technological challenges and eventually these solutions turned into trends. Typefaces with round letter shapes have always been determined by tools to enable the cutting and milling of round edges. Overall the Kabel Rundbuchstaben appear round in edges and corners, but strokes terminate on flat endings. Another example from the same era is Kabel® Rundbuchstaben (literally round letters), a set of capital letters in two weights for display use to accompany Rudolf Koch’s Kabel (1928). However, apart from its almost perfect circle-like ‘O’ and some of its lower cases such as ‘a’, ‘b’ and ‘g’, Rund-Grotesk does not appear particularly round - at least not more than its contemporary Neuzeit-Grotesk. Here rund (round) merely refers to the fact that this typeface has roundish letterforms, in accordance with the geometric sans idea. A rather prominent case is Rund Grotesk, a sans serif face released by the German type foundry C. The use of the term “round” in a typeface’s name can be misleading. The terms round and rounded are not defined as clearly as with or without serifs for example and yet both terms have been used in a variety of contexts both historically and today.
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