Didone (typography)

Didone (/diˈdoʊni/) is a genre of serif typeface that emerged in the late 18th century and was the standard style of general-purpose printing during the 19th century. It is characterized by:

• Narrow and unbracketed (hairline) serifs. (The serifs have a nearly constant width along their length.)
• Vertical orientation of weight axes. (The vertical strokes of letters are thick.)
• Strong contrast between thick and thin lines. (Horizontal parts of letters are thin in comparison to the vertical parts.)
• Some stroke endings show ball terminals. (Many lines end in a teardrop or circle shape, rather than a plain wedge-shaped serif.)
• An unornamented, "modern" appearance.

The term "Didone" is a 1954 coinage, part of the Vox-ATypI classification system. It amalgamates the surnames of the famous typefounders Firmin Didot and Giambattista Bodoni, whose efforts defined the style around the beginning of the nineteenth century.^[1] The category was known in the period of its greatest popularity as modern or modern face, in contrast to "old-style" or "old-face" designs, which date to the Renaissance period.