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ITC Officina® Sans

By ITC

ITC
When ITC Officina was first released in 1990, as a paired family of serif and sans serif faces in two weights with italics, it was intended as a workhorse typeface for business correspondence. But the typeface proved popular in many more areas than correspondence. Erik Spiekermann, ITC Officina's designer: Once ITC Officina got picked up by the trendsetters to denote 'coolness,' it had lost its innocence. No pretending anymore that it only needed two weights for office correspondence. As a face used in magazines and advertising, it needed proper headline weights and one more weight in between the original Book and Bold."" To add the new weights and small caps, Spiekermann collaborated with Ole Schaefer, director of typography and type design at MetaDesign. The extended ITC Officina family now includes Medium, Extra Bold, and Black weights with matching italics-all in both Sans and Serif -- as well as new small caps fonts for the original Book and Bold weights.

The ITC Officina Sans design was created in response to the popularity of inexpensive laser printers. Building on the typewriter fonts Courier™ and Letter Gothic™, Erik Spiekermann wanted to create a simple, useful typeface for business communication such as letters and emails. The ITC Officina Sans typeface was the result.

After its release, the typeface became popular for use in other media as well. Spiekermann introduced additional weights and character options to the original design, which featured only regular and bold weights. The arm and the leg of ITC Officina Sans make a right angle as they meet the vertical line, making a subtle but unique difference from other typefaces. The capital Q is more oval than in other typefaces, and the capital J has the top only to the left, not across the top. The ‘b’ and the‘d’ have are raised slightly and have a bowed shape - hardly noticeable unless looking for it. Small variations like these give this typeface an air of originality, yet keep it legible.

The ITC Officina Sans design has evolved over time in response to market needs, and continues to respond to the market. This may be one of the reasons why it is relied upon again and again.

The complete ITC Officina Sans family includes weights such as Display Light, Medium, Bold, Extra Bold, and Black. ITC Officina Sans is used by the South Dakota Department of Tourism. The iomega company uses it in its logo.

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