"Agfa Monotype’s Gill Sans® typeface, the sans serif design created by Eric Gill in 1928 for the Monotype Corporation Ltd., is the official typeface for the Games of the XXVIII Olympiad in Athens" reads the press release issued yesterday, Aug. 16, 2004, by Agfa Monotype in England. Here is an excerpt:

« “Gill Sans is a typographic work of art with a timelessness that’s fitting for the Olympics,” said Allan Haley, director of words and letters at Agfa Monotype Corp. “Mr. Gill could not have imagined how well this classic face has stood the test of time, weathering typographic trends and changing technologies. Today, Gill Sans is equally at home on the computer screen as it is on the printed page. Characters are easy to read and are visually appealing – just as they’ve always been.” [...]

Gill Sans was modeled in part by Gill’s early work as an apprentice for Edward Johnston, the British calligrapher credited with designing the alphabet for the London Underground system. Gill Sans, considered to be the first successful sans serif typeface based on the humanist models of the Renaissance, offers a more pronounced contrast in stroke widths than most serifless fonts, resulting in a design that’s been judged as more appealing to the eye, and ultimately more readable than monoweight alternatives. The typeface also allows for more information to be set in a given space than if using many other sans serif designs. »

Here are a few samples of its usage.

Gill Sans is a wonderful typeface, but a pretty demanding one. You have to have some sound command of typographic knowledge to master it. It needs proper negative space for big display usage and sensible leading for paragraphs. Combining different weights often turns into a real nightmare.

I have a 4 years old personal history with Gill Sans: although I loved it, I discarded its usage as the corporate typeface of Connex (a local GSM operator) after noticing art directors not being inspired by it, but fighting it under the tight deadlines -- and I replaced it with Interstate, a typeface that's easier working with even if you're young and inexperienced. I think it was a good move, as Interstate provided inspiration and a greater creative freedom with less hassle.

By the way, Connex seems to be preparing a new identity shift these days. I am curious if they'll revert to Gill, keep Interstate or switch to a new corporate typeface altogether.