Willow is the name shared by two

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, ...

ITC Willow

''ITC Willow'' was designed by

Tony Forster Tony may refer to: People and fictional characters * Tony the Tiger, cartoon mascot for Frosted Flakes cereal * Tony (given name), including a list of people and fictional characters * Gregory Tony (born 1978), American law enforcement officer * M ...

in 1990. Although a contemporary typeface, Willow is the reminiscent of the Scottish Arts and Crafts style made popular by painter and social reformer

Jessie Marion King Jessie Marion King (20 March 1875 – 3 August 1949) was a Scottish illustrator known for her illustrated children's books. She also designed bookplates, jewellery and fabric, and painted pottery. King was one of the artists known as the Glasgo ...

(1875–1949), and architect and designer

Charles Rennie Mackintosh Charles Rennie Mackintosh (7 June 1868 – 10 December 1928) was a Scottish architect, designer, water colourist and artist. His artistic approach had much in common with European Symbolism. His work, alongside that of his wife Margaret Macd ...

(1868–1928) of the

Glasgow School The Glasgow School was a circle of influential artists and designers that began to coalesce in Glasgow, Scotland in the 1870s, and flourished from the 1890s to around 1910. Representative groups included The Four (also known as the Spook Schoo ...

. The face is based upon a sign for The Willow Tea Rooms, one of four tea rooms in Glasgow designed by Mackintosh. The typeface is distinct for the double crossbars on the uppercase A and H, and the unusual design of the uppercase O, which is raised above the baseline, with two dots centred beneath the bowl.

Willow Regular

''Willow Regular'' was designed by

Joy Redick Joy is the state of being that allows one to experience feelings of intense, long-lasting happiness and contentment of life. It is closely related to, and often evoked by, well-being, success, or good fortune. Happiness, pleasure, and gratitu ...

in 1990, and is part of the

Adobe Originals The Adobe Originals program is a series of digital typefaces created by Adobe Systems from 1989 for professional use, intended to be of extremely high design quality while offering a large feature set across many languages. Many are strongly infl ...

Woodtype Collection.

Popular culture

The American television series ''

American Horror Story ''American Horror Story'' (''AHS'') is an American horror film, horror anthology series, anthology television series created by Ryan Murphy (producer), Ryan Murphy and Brad Falchuk for the Cable television, cable network FX (TV channel), FX. Th ...

'' and its spin-off series ''

American Horror Stories ''American Horror Stories'' is an American horror anthology television series created by Ryan Murphy and Brad Falchuk for FX on Hulu. Originally premiering on July 15, 2021, the series serves as a direct spin-off/ companion series to ''Americ ...

'' features a variant of ITC Willow* prominently in the episodes as well as the series logotype itself. The font used was actually a slightly edited version of The Charles Rennie Mackintosh Font, which was purchased specifically to use on the show. This features a modified letter "O" and slightly closer character spacing than the original. Its use was notable among TV and movie buffs since it has never been regarded as synonymous with the

horror genre Horror is a genre of speculative fiction that is intended to disturb, frighten, or scare an audience. Horror is often divided into the sub-genres of psychological horror and supernatural horror. Literary historian J. A. Cuddon, in 1984, defin ...

. The Charles Rennie Mackintosh Font was also used in the motion picture ''

Spider-Man 2 ''Spider-Man 2'' is a 2004 American superhero film based on the Marvel Comics character of Spider-Man. Directed by Sam Raimi and written by Alvin Sargent from a story conceived by Michael Chabon and the writing team of Alfred Gough and Miles ...

''. It featured in the display signage for the

Broadway Broadway may refer to: Theatre * Broadway Theatre (disambiguation) * Broadway theatre, theatrical productions in professional theatres near Broadway, Manhattan, New York City, U.S. ** Broadway (Manhattan), the street ** Broadway Theatre (53rd Stre ...

play (Oscar Wilde's "The Importance of Being Earnest") in which

Mary Jane Watson Mary Jane "MJ" Watson is a character appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. The character was created by Stan Lee and Steve Ditko, making her first appearance in ''The Amazing Spider-Man'' #25 (June 1965), and subsequent ...

(

Kirsten Dunst Kirsten Caroline Dunst (; born April 30, 1982) is an American actress. She made her acting debut in the anthology film ''New York Stories'' (1989) and has since starred in several film and television productions. She has received several awar ...

Peter Parker Spider-Man is a superhero in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. Created by writer-editor Stan Lee and artist Steve Ditko, he first appeared in the anthology comic book ''Amazing Fantasy'' #15 (August 1962) in the Silver Age of ...

's on-off girlfriend, was appearing. The movie's director,

Sam Raimi Samuel M. Raimi ( ; born October 23, 1959) is an American filmmaker. He is best known for directing the first three films in the ''Evil Dead'' franchise (1981–present) and the ''Spider-Man'' trilogy (2002–2007). He also directed the super ...

, spent some time in Glasgow, Scotland, at the Glasgow School of Art, the institute attended by (and later re-designed by) Charles Rennie Mackintosh himself. Raimi became a big fan of Mackintosh's work and specifically asked for this font to be used in the making of the signage. The City of

Berkeley, California Berkeley ( ) is a city on the eastern shore of San Francisco Bay in northern Alameda County, California, United States. It is named after the 18th-century Anglo-Irish bishop and philosopher George Berkeley. It borders the cities of Oakland, Cali ...

uses the Mackintosh font in its logo and official communications.

External links

* *
The Willow Tea Room with photo of the sign the typeface is based upon

References

{{Use dmy dates, date=September 2021 Display typefaces Typefaces and fonts introduced in 1990 International Typeface Corporation typefaces Linotype typefaces Adobe typefaces

ITC Willow

Willow Regular

Popular culture

See also

External links

References