Joanna has been called the most engaging of Eric Gill’s typefaces. The design was drawn by Gill and first cut in 1931 by the Caslon foundry for the exclusive use of Gill’s printing firm, Hague & Gill. This hand-set version of the typeface was only made available in two sizes and, fittingly, the first use of the font was to set Gill’s own “Essay on Typography.”
Not long after, Hague & Gill was acquired by J. M. Dent & Sons, and the rights to Joanna came along with it. In 1937, Monotype produced a machine-set version for the exclusive use of Joanna’s new owner, but Dent later agreed to a general release of the small family of roman and italic designs, at which time Monotype added these fonts to their prestigious typeface library. In 1986, the Monotype Type Drawing Office created semi-bold, bold and extra bold weights for the family, and Joanna was re-released as one of Monotype’s first digital fonts.
Gill himself described the design as “a book face free from all fancy business.” Modestly sized capitals (shorter than the lowercase ascenders), moderate contrast between thick and thin in character strokes, small, straight serifs and a quiet elegance distinguish this design from most other serif typeface designs. Although the design is based on traditional Roman letter proportions, Gill purposely deviated from the pronounced thick and thin contrast of that model, instead favoring his calligraphic style of moderated character weight stress.
Joanna italic is a sloped roman rather than a cursive design. The letterforms have remarkable character and an exceptionally even color when set. The design is generally agreed to be Gill’s most successful italic.
Although originally designed as a text typeface, Joanna has become popular for display and advertising work, where the unusually narrow italic is frequently used.