apollo: 14 of 20

Rosalind Franklin: Robbed intellectually and spiritually without recourse, she died tragically at a young age and was subsequently forgotten, only to be resurrected a decade later as a laughingstock by the unrepentant thief. A painstakingly methodical molecular biologist, her astoundingly clear x-ray crystallographs of DNA led directly to the elucidation of the molecule’s structure.

The second major work on Franklin’s life was published this year, and as good fortune would have it, I found my copy under the tree. The book is one of only a few I’ve seen set in Apollo. Originally designed in 1962 as one of the first faces for photocomposition, Apollo is elegant, easy-to-read, and just a tad quirky. One doesn’t necessarily expect to find a Berling-esque, beaked f in the midst of an otherwise classical old face, nor a j that seems poised to reel in any ascender below that dares venture astray.

In the digital era, Adrian Frutiger and Linotype appear to be inextricably linked. Yet here is a Monotype offering from the Swiss designer – one of his earliest serifed designs – and unlike any of his other digitized forms save one (Linotype Didot), it comes with all the trimmings: small caps, text numerals, and an extended f-ligature set.

If there is any nagging fault apparent in the digitization, it is in the spine of the lower case s, which is just a touch too heavy. Squint, and you will see the s’s pop out here and there on the page. Small criticism, however, for a face that is so crisp, so stately, and so sadly underused.

Apollo is named for the god of, among other things, logic, reason, and intellect. He was strikingly handsome and passionately romantic, yet was perpetually unlucky in love. Logic, reason, and a strong intellect served to guide Rosalind Franklin throughout her short-lived, scientific career. And like Apollo, she too was spurned by love; the only men in whom she was ever interested were already married.

An appropriately chosen typeface, then, for the biography of such an extraordinary person.

06-January 2003