The Italic Style: Understanding the Shape Through History

The italic cursive calligraphic style originates, in general terms, from the simplification of the gesture of writing, since the inclination is a consequence of the speed and movement of the gesture. Italic fonts and the calligraphic style are easily recognizable in the Western world. However, contrary to what happens in typography studies, it is noted that the history of italics has not been adequately addressed in the scientific literature on the history of design, where the formal characteristics are not analyzed in a coherent way. Therefore, the objectives of this research are: to clarify the historical origins of italics, taking into account, in particular, the morphological evolution of the style from informal to formal writing and the adaptation of the shape of calligraphic characters to typography; to identify and analyze its characteristics, differentiating it from both regular and oblique variants; apply the study of movement and gesture to the drawing of the letter in italics (calligraphy) and evaluate its repercussions on typography; and finally, identify the main designers and engravers throughout their diachronic journey. This study is supported on qualitative methods of historical research and on the observation and critical analysis of the calligraphic practice. Through bibliographical research and literary review, a theoretical framework is created for the design of italic types, from which we intend to validate the hypothesis that the understanding of the calligraphic gesture is fundamental to the comprehension of the formal characteristics of italics, be it calligraphic or typographic. This article is based on the master’s dissertation of C. Almeida titled “Origin and Evolution of Italic: from calligraphy to typography”, presented in 2017 at the Lisbon School of Architecture of the University of Lisbon.