Simoncini

Simoncini SA

Industry	Type foundry
Founder(s)	Francesco Simoncini
Headquarters	Bologna, Italy

The Simoncini SA was a manufacturer of linecaster matrices established by Italian type designer Francesco Simoncini shortly after the Second World War. Simoncini had worked with the Ludwig & Mayer foundry before becoming the founder and managing director of his own firm, which was based in Bologna, Italy. In 1956, he was invited by Giulio Einaudi to design a new typeface for his publishing house. Einaudi wanted a new face based on Garamond, and the result was Simoncini Garamond, and it was loosely based on the original face. It was successfully used by Einaudi, and subsequently adopted by many other publishers. Another of his typefaces, Aster, is still very popular. He designed it in 1958, and originally intended it for use in newspapers and books. Simoncini died in 1967.^[1] Digital versions of his fonts are now available through Linotype

Typefaces

These linecaster matrices were produced by Simoncini^[2]:

• Armstrong (1970, F. Simoncini)
• Aster (1958, F. Simoncini)
• Delia (1951, F. Simoncini)
• Dominante (1962, Johannes Schweitzer), originally cast by Ludwig & Mayer (1959).
• Life (1965, W. Bilz), also availble as foundry type from Ludwig & Mayer.
• Simoncini Garamond (1958-61, F. Simoncini and W. Bilz), also known as Garamond #9

References

1. ^ "Francesco Simoncini". IdentiFont. 2011-11-22. http://www.identifont.com/show?138. Retrieved 2011-11-22. 
2. ^ Jaspert, W. Pincus, W. Turner Berry and A.F. Johnson. The Encyclopedia of Type Faces. Blandford Press Lts.: 1953, 1983, ISBN 0-7137-1347-X, p. 2408-249