Early in his career, Gill apprenticed under Edward

Gill
Johnston, the famous British calligrapher. During this
time he was able to collaborate with Johnston on
one of the calligrapher’s most well known projects:
the signage alphabet for the London Underground
system. Morison was aware of Johnston’s sans serif Humanist

Sans
font, and when, several years later, he saw lettering
by Gill using many of the same letterforms, it struck
him that a typeface based on this alphabet would be Eric Gill
Sans Serif
highly marketable. In Morison’s plan, Gill Sans was to
be the British counterpart to the Futura® design.
1928

cap height
J terminal stem One of reasons for the enduring success of Gill

O
Sans is that it is based on Roman character shapes
and proportions and is unlike virtually any other
p shoulder
y sans serif typeface. There is also warmth and
humanity found in Gill Sans that is found in few
sans serif typefaces. In addition, each weight in the
x-height
stress family retains a distinct character of its own. They
were not “mechanically” produced from a single

a W design, as is the case with many other sans serif

r
designs. The light is open and elegant. The regular,

i V stroke with its flat-bottomed d, flat-topped p and q and

triangular-topped t, has a more compact and

m
spine muscular appearance. The bold tends to echo the

K softer and more open style of the light, while the

extra bold and ultra bold have their own unique

d
vivid personalities.

f c w
spur
U z l k arm

D
tail
descender

Gill Sans has been popular almost from its inception.

P
ascender

v
In the year following its release, it was chosen to be
the official font for the LNER railway system. Gill
Sans would go on to appear on nearly everything h q
associated with the company, from the menus used
in its dining cars to the timetables printed for use in
its stations to posters advertising the railway. In
I u Y T ear

1948, the newly created British Railways also opted link counter

s F o
to use Gill Sans for all printed media, including its loop
timetables. Gill Sans continues to be a popular
choice, as it has been featured prominently by the

X Z
Church of England, which adopted the typeface in
bowl
2000 when publishing its series of books known as
Common Worship. Saab Automobile uses Gill Sans in

R
all its marketing and advertising materials, and Gill
Sans has also been the corporate typeface of the
BBC (British Broadcasting Corporation) since 1997. M bar