Draft:Ondine (script typeface)

• Comment: An interesting draft; promising!
  I read here that "The name 'Ondine' translates from French to 'wave'." Does this mean "Ondine is a French word meaning 'wave' "? If yes it does, then this explanation of the word surprises me (although I confess that I was too lazy to look beyond ondine and Ondine). Are you sure? If no it doesn't, then what does the sentence mean? -- Hoary (talk) 23:03, 28 June 2025 (UTC)

• Comment: I really like the font, but there just isn't any secondary sources that review/discuss the font in detail. We would need three or so sources that do that. See WP:42. qcne (talk) 21:42, 28 June 2025 (UTC)

• Comment: No new sources added since last submission —pythoncoder (talk | contribs) 02:15, 27 June 2025 (UTC)

• Comment: Needs significant coverage. Kovcszaln6 (talk) 17:41, 15 June 2025 (UTC)

• Comment: No sources added since last decline, still not notable. ~/Bunnypranav:<ping> 07:46, 15 June 2025 (UTC)

• Comment: The book "Adrian Frutiger – Typefaces:
  Complete Works" has a chapter on Ondine. Editors with Wikipedia Library access can find it here [1]. Much of it is told by Frutiger, but the smaller text on the sides should count as independent sigcov, which is one source towards the WP:GNG. Toadspike [Talk] 18:12, 1 June 2025 (UTC)

• Comment: We need several sources with significant coverage (at least a paragraph) about this font specifically, not just Frutiger. Toadspike [Talk] 17:58, 1 June 2025 (UTC)

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Ondine is a script typeface designed by Adrian Frutiger in 1954 for the Deberny & Peignot foundry in France.

Ondine

The typeface Ondine, designed by Adrian Frutiger
Category	Script
Classification	Humanist
Designer(s)	Adrian Frutiger
Foundry	Deberny & Peignot
Date released	1954
Re-issuing foundries	Linotype, URW, Bitstream
Design based on	Legende by F.H. Ernst Schneidler
Variations	Formal Script 421

Unlike popular script fonts like Mistral & Choc by Roger Excoffon, which look more spontaneous, Ondine comes off as somewhat stiff due to its pointed terminals and its unusual upright stance, which is not typical for script fonts.

History

The name 'Ondine' translates from French to 'wave'. The design traces its roots to handwriting in the humanist era, a high point of Italian Renaissance typography in the 15th century. This movement was popular in Florence, the heart of the Humanist movement home to several well-known type schools. Writers at the time aimed to replicate the writing style of literary works, taking form and style into consideration. Although the humanist era is its primary historical influence, there are multiple historical references visible, for example majuscule italics of Roman times. As such, Ondine is not necessarily a copy of any particular historical letterform; instead, it represents a blend of different styles.

Design

Ondine's shapes were drawn using a broad pen and cut out of card stock with scissors, hence the character shapes featuring sharp openings. Frutiger recalls the process of the design of Ondine:

I picked the shapes that worked best. To finish those with opaque white and black ink would have taken me too long, so I wrote the letters with a broad pen on tracing paper and put them in the enlarger. I produced precise drawings from these, used white transfer paper to copy the type to black card, and then cut the letters out with scissors. If a detail was incorrect, I would cut something off or do letters again if need be. That way I quickly produced black and white originals, my speedy method for final artwork.

There were also alternate characters produced as shown in a 1950s Deberny & Peignot specimen; however, they aren't included in current digital versions.

Charles Foster comments that "Although it has no oriental connection, [Ondine] has remained popular down the years with the designers of Chinese restaurant menus."

Availability

Although it didn't find immediate success, Ondine was acquired in 1981 by D. Stempel AG in Frankfurt am Main, and adapted for the phototypesetting machines of the Mergenthaler Linotype group. The typeface is available through Linotype and URW foundries. It was digitized by Adobe in 1995. Bitstream created a version it named Formal Script 421.