That slanted script–don’t fake it!

A comparison between true italic and “fake” italic, or oblique, typeset in QuarkXPress

Italics are a style of glyph that slant at around 15-20 degrees from the vertical, and are more cursive than roman but less roman than script.

The last point is important; italic is not simply slanted type. It has characteristics that suggest handrwriting. The italic style in fact emanates from Italianate calligraphy ([1] such as that displayed by Arrighi in his Operina(link is to http://briem.ismennt.is/)). It became type and went forth into the world via the typefounders at Aldine Press; Aldus Manutius himself is said to hold the first patents to the movable type.

There is, however, a tendency to see any slanted type as “italic”; but as the illustration shows, that is in no way correct. A tell tale sign of italic is a specially-crafted minuscule “a”, which echoes the italic style’s roots in handwriting, whereas a dead giveaway for obliqued type is the obvious skewing of the minuscule “a” to create an italic effect. This is not a true italic, merely a roman glyph pressed into service as such by skewing, and even if not obviously evident there is no way that such type can escape a “stretched” appearance.

This is one of the reasons why, when desiring italic one should use true italic, not obliqued roman. QuarkXPress allows for “fake” italics by obliquing when the font in question has no true italic style; this is achievable by way of an “italic” button on the measurments palette. InDesign uses font selection lists that are generated from fonts and faces that are on the system for selection, therefore one cannot fake an italic easily.

References:

• The Elements of Typographic Style, v2.5, Robert Bringhurst
• A Typographic Workbook, Clair & Busic-Snyder
• [2] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Italic_type