The typeface Rockwell was designed and published by Frank Hinman Pierpont in collaboration with Monotype Design Studio in 1934. It is classified as a slab serif typeface. Rockwell is composed practically of straight lines, perfect circles, and shared angles. Rockwell has a tall x-height and even stroke width, adding to its blocky finish. Some other characteristics include vertical stress, squared serifs, and short descenders and ascenders. Rockwell reads more successfully when used more as a headline font rather than used in body copy.
Rockwell was originally modeled after the 1910 typeface Litho Antique. Rockwell typeface design is slightly more slender in letter width and taller in x-height compared to it predecessor. It did however adopt Litho Antique’s even stroke weight and perfectly squared serifs. Rockwell was born a few years after Futura, which lead to its success of being apart of the geometric typeface era. Rockwell was used widely in the era of Modernism and associated greatly with architecture and design of the Modernist movement.
Rockwell can portray many voices and be adopted based on its user. Malibu Rum uses Rockwell and it gives off a relaxed, beachy feeling. IBM used this typeface in their recreated logo and it is perceived in a more professional manner. Lastly, the recreated Heineken logo adopted the typeface and it portrays a strong, cool look. Rockwell’s ability to thrive in various cases is a result of how strong the typeface is itself.
Rockwell has many font admirers. After learning about Rockwell, I am too an admirer of this bold font. In some situations, Rockwell might be better loved from a far, but in the right condition I believe Rockwell can be a strong, bold font.