Oblique type

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Oblique type is a form of type that slants slightly to the right, used in the same manner as italic type. Unlike italic type, however, it does not use different glyph shapes; it uses the same glyphs as roman type, except distorted. Oblique and italic type are often confused.

The start of this confusion possibly appeared when Adrian Frutiger named the slanted versions of his typefaces Univers and Frutiger as italic. Following this viewpoint, sans-serif typefaces often do not have true italic versions. The Gill Sans and Goudy Sans typefaces are two well-known exceptions. The sans-serif fonts within the ClearType Font Collection introduced in Windows Vista typefaces have true italic versions.

Although oblique font can be generated by simply tilting base font, some designers use optical correction to correct the distorted curves introduced by the tilting alone.

External links

• Typographica: Ain't What ITC Used to Be
• Fake vs. True Italics
• ITC Franklin Gothic: Oblique vs. Italic

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Last updated on Wednesday November 21, 2007 at 15:59:52 PST (GMT -0800)
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