Rockwell is a

slab serif In typography, a slab serif (also called ''mechanistic'', ''square serif'', ''antique'' or ''Egyptian'') typeface is a type of serif typeface characterized by thick, block-like serifs. Serif terminals may be either blunt and angular ( Rockwell), ...

typeface designed by the

Monotype Corporation Monotype Imaging Holdings Inc., founded as Lanston Monotype Machine Company in 1887 in Philadelphia by Tolbert Lanston, is an American (historically Anglo-American) company that specializes in digital typesetting and typeface design for use wit ...

and released in 1934. The project was supervised by Monotype's engineering manager Frank Hinman Pierpont. This

typeface A typeface (or font family) is a design of Letter (alphabet), letters, Numerical digit, numbers and other symbols, to be used in printing or for electronic display. Most typefaces include variations in size (e.g., 24 point), weight (e.g., light, ...

is distinguished by a

serif In typography, a serif () is a small line or stroke regularly attached to the end of a larger stroke in a letter or symbol within a particular font or family of fonts. A typeface or "font family" making use of serifs is called a serif typeface ( ...

at the apex of the uppercase ''A'', while the lowercase ''a'' has two storeys. Because of its monoweighted stroke (meaning there is virtually no visible thick/thin transition in the strokes, so the letterforms are the same thickness all the way around), Rockwell is used primarily for display or at small sizes rather than as a

body text __NOTOC__ Body text or body copy, or running text, is the text forming the main content of a book, magazine, web page, or any other printed or digital work. This is as a contrast to both additional components such as headings, images, charts, foot ...

. Rockwell is based on an earlier, more condensed slab serif design cast by the Inland Type Foundry called Litho Antique. Rockwell is a geometric slab-serif with a monoline construction, with all of its strokes appearing to be roughly the same width and its capital ''O'' roughly circular. This gives it a similar impression to common

sans-serif In typography and lettering, a sans-serif, sans serif (), gothic, or simply sans letterform is one that does not have extending features called "serifs" at the end of strokes. Sans-serif typefaces tend to have less stroke width variation than ...

designs of the period like

Akzidenz Grotesk Akzidenz-Grotesk is a sans-serif typeface family originally released by the Berthold Type Foundry of Berlin in 1898. ' indicates its intended use as a typeface for commercial print runs such as publicity, tickets and forms, as opposed to fine p ...

Franklin Gothic Franklin Gothic and its related faces are a large family of sans-serif typefaces in the industrial or grotesque style developed in the early years of the 20th century by the type foundry American Type Founders (ATF) and credited to its head desig ...

, or Futura. Rockwell is influenced by a style of geometric slab serif that had become popular around the time, including the earlier Memphis and Beton, and less similarly Stymie and City. Rockwell has remained popular and been digitised, although a shadowed weight has not been.

Bitstream A bitstream (or bit stream), also known as binary sequence, is a sequence of bits. A bytestream is a sequence of bytes. Typically, each byte is an 8-bit quantity, and so the term octet stream is sometimes used interchangeably. An octet may ...

offers a lookalike/clone of Rockwell, under the name ''Geometric Slabserif 712.'' Vernon Adams designed the Rokkitt typeface, inspired by Rockwell.

Usage

The ''

Guinness World Records ''Guinness World Records'', known from its inception in 1955 until 1999 as ''The Guinness Book of Records'' and in previous United States editions as ''The Guinness Book of World Records'', is a British reference book published annually, list ...

'' used Rockwell in some of its early-1990s editions. Informational signage at

Expo 86 The 1986 World Exposition on Transportation and Communication, or simply Expo 86, was a world's fair held in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada from May 2 until October 13, 1986. The fair, the theme of which was "Transportation and Communicatio ...

made extensive use of the Rockwell typeface.

Docklands Light Railway The Docklands Light Railway (DLR) is an automated medium-capacity rail system, light metro system primarily serving the redeveloped London Docklands, Docklands area of London and providing a direct connection between London's two major financi ...

used a bold weight of this typeface in the late 1980s and early 1990s. The poetry publisher Tall Lighthouse also uses Rockwell in all of its books, as well as on its website. The government of

Ohio Ohio ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States. It borders Lake Erie to the north, Pennsylvania to the east, West Virginia to the southeast, Kentucky to the southwest, Indiana to the ...

used Rockwell in its previous logo. Previous local government

Strathclyde Regional Council Strathclyde ( in Welsh; in Gaelic, meaning 'strath alleyof the River Clyde') was one of nine former local government regions of Scotland created in 1975 by the Local Government (Scotland) Act 1973 and abolished in 1996 by the Local Govern ...

used the Rockwell font in its logo. American fast food chain

Arby's Arby's is an American fast-food restaurant, fast food sandwich restaurant chain with more than 3,300 restaurants. The flagship property of Inspire Brands, it ranked third in systemwide sales in the United States in the quick-service and fast-ca ...

uses Rockwell font in its advertising, most notably in its slogan, “We Have The Meats”. The 2024 film Challengers and its accompanying promotional material notably made extensive use of Rockwell.

Avon and Somerset Constabulary Avon and Somerset Police is the territorial police force responsible for law enforcement in the five unitary authority areas of Bristol, Bath and North East Somerset, North Somerset, Somerset, and South Gloucestershire, all in South West Englan ...

use the typeface prominently, such as in the masthead of their website.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Rockwell (Typeface) Monotype typefaces Geometric slab-serif typefaces Typefaces and fonts introduced in 1934 Display typefaces