Designed by Rian Hughes, Broadside Text is a sans serif font family. This typeface has fourteen styles and was published by Device.
Broadside Text is a companion to Broadside, and is optimised for use at smaller sizes. More open counters, more generous letter-spacing and additional fractions increase legibility. The original Broadside family is suitable for headlines and larger sizes, and also comes with condensed and extended versions.
Broadside is a versatile, authoritative and functional family inspired by the sans serifs seen on ’40s and ’50s patriotic posters and period advertising. It is available in seven weights across condensed, normal and extended widths, each with reweighed italics.
The type from this period was very often hand-drawn, and so differs considerably from poster to poster. Many American examples of this period use a Photo-Lettering style called Murray Hill and its derivatives, although their UK counterparts, designed by such luminaries as Abram Games or Tom Eckersley, are more stylistically diverse. Even though no single model is available to base a digitisation on, there are certain recurring stylistic quirks that give the type its unique flavour, and so the most interesting examples from several sources were be combined for the final family.
Alternate short descenders, allowing for tighter line spacing, can be toggled on or off in the Opentype panel of Indesign or Illustrator.
Tabular and lining numerals and a single-story ‘a’ are also available in all weights and styles.