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Die Linotype-Pressemitteilung im Wortlaut:

One name and a strong brand

Simply Linotype

Bad Homburg, November 1st, 2005. As of the 1st of November 2005, “Linotype GmbH” is the new official name for the company formerly registered under “Linotype GmbH”. Will there really be a difference? After all, for some time already, most typography professionals have been referring to the company as “Linotype” anyway. And the company’s ambition to continuously improve font usability and font awareness will remain unchanged as well. Nor is there is anything especially new about the name either. Ever since 1890, when the ingenious inventor Ottmar Mergenthaler founded the Mergenthaler Linotype Company, the name Linotype has been synonymous with ground-breaking innovation and leading quality in the world of typography and print. According to Linotype Managing Director Bruno Steinert, the most important reason for the change is simply practical: “It will strengthen the brand. In our corporate communication, we can now more clearly differentiate our product ‘Linotype Library’ from the company, which will hitherto be known as simply ‘Linotype’.”

Since May 1st, 1997, the name “Linotype GmbH” has referred to the company behind one of the world’s foremost font libraries. But the legacy of today’s “Linotype GmbH” stretches back further still. In the 19th century, Ottmar Mergenthaler, a German immigrant to the U.S., made his mark in history as the inventor of a revolutionary new typesetting machine, which soon became known as the “linotype”. With this invention, Mergenthaler could be considered the founder of the Linotype company, which has existed in many different forms and constellations over the last century. Famous entities like Linotype-Hell AG, D. Stempel AG, Haas’sche Schriftgießerei and Deberny & Peignot are just some of the names associated with this rich typographical legacy. As technologies have come and gone, the spirit of Linotype has lived on – now associated with such innovations as the recently released Linotype FontExplorer™ X, the state-of-the-art computer application for unprecedented font selection, management and seamless online licensing.

While the company’s name may have been shortened by one word, the quality behind the internationally renowned name “Linotype” is as intact and comprehensive as ever. Based in the same region which has brought forth Gutenberg and Herrmann Zapf, as well as some of the world’s most significant type foundries and collections, “The Source of the Originals” remains Linotype’s claim to a rich heritage – and its foundation for continuing to shape the future of typography. Managing Director Bruno Steinert ensures the company’s vision, products, services, ownership and even its legal form have all remained exactly as they were. The name “Linotype” is simply shorter, easier to remember, and, since there are now no other companies which use the word “Linotype”, it only makes sense to simplify the name in accordance with the way people already refer to the company. And the company’s main product, the actual “Linotype Library”, can now better be delineated from the company itself.

As in the past, the “new” Linotype continues to stand for consistency in the production, marketing and licensing of high quality fonts. But Linotype also stands for an unrivalled commitment to meet the aesthetic, legal and communicative needs of its customers and suppliers. So in the future, designers and typographers can look forwards to Linotype’s further support of the open exchange of ideas and information in the field of typography – between professionals in every corner of the world. The ambitious and qualified staff at Linotype remain dedicated to meeting this objective and making it reality.

When Ottmar Mergenthaler demonstrated the first linecasting machine to the New York Tribune in 1886, Whitelaw Reid, the editor-in-chief, was delighted: "Ottmar," he said, "you’ve cast a line of type!" This and many other anecdotes on the history of typography, and the unique company which has often been instrumental in shaping the industry, can all be found at www.linotype.com. For the first time, the name of the company behind the website is equally straightforward. Simply Linotype.

Linotype GmbH, based in Bad Homburg, Germany and a member of the Heidelberg Group, looks back onto a history of 119 years. Building on its strong heritage, Linotype develops state-of-the-art font technology and offers more than 6,000 original fonts, covering the whole typographic spectrum from antique to modern, from east to west, and from classical to experimental. All typefaces
(in PostScript™ and TrueType™ format as well as more than 2,300 fonts in OpenTypeTM) are now also available for instant download at www.linotype.com. In addition to supplying digital fonts, Linotype also offers comprehensive and individual consultation and support services for font applications in worldwide (corporate) communication.

If you would like further information, please contact:

Linotype GmbH
Du-Pont-Straße 1
D-61352 Bad Homburg