Johnston
Johnston
Edward Johnston, 1916
Sans-serif · London. Specifically and only London.
Commissioned by Frank Pick for the Underground and still in use over a century later, which makes it one of the longest-continuously-used corporate typefaces in existence. Its diamond-shaped dots over the i and j are the giveaway. Eric Gill was Johnston's student and assisted on it, which is why Gill Sans looks the way it does.
How to tell it apart
| Mistaken for | Which letters to check |
|---|---|
| Gill Sans | Johnston has diamond-shaped tittles over i and j; Gill Sans has round ones. Gill Sans is also slightly more humanist in its lowercase a. |
The facts
- Designed by
- Edward Johnston
- Released
- 1916
- Classification
- Sans-serif
- What it signals now
- London. Specifically and only London.
Where you have seen it
- Every sign on the London Underground since 1916
This page describes the typeface rather than showing it. Displaying a specimen requires a licensed font file and almost none of these may be redistributed, so the descriptions name the letters to look at instead.
Common questions
- Who designed Johnston?
- Edward Johnston, in 1916.
- What is Johnston used for?
- London. Specifically and only London. You will have seen it on Every sign on the London Underground since 1916.
- What is the difference between Johnston and Gill Sans?
- Johnston has diamond-shaped tittles over i and j; Gill Sans has round ones. Gill Sans is also slightly more humanist in its lowercase a.
Related pages
- Gill Sans Routinely mistaken for this one
- Typefaces from the 1910s 1 here
- Akzidenz-Grotesk H. Berthold AG, 1896
- Franklin Gothic Morris Fuller Benton, 1902
- Futura Paul Renner, 1927
- Gill Sans Eric Gill, 1928
- Helvetica Max Miedinger and Eduard Hoffmann, 1957
- Univers Adrian Frutiger, 1957
- Optima Hermann Zapf, 1958
- Eurostile Aldo Novarese, 1962
Sources
- Official vendor product documentation — At One Place