We love it. It goes down easy. It serves as a compliment to almost anything. Does it make something good? Not necessarily. Does it make something easier to swallow? Usually. I’m talking about two things: ketchup (or catsup, if you prefer) and the typeface Garamond. Hot dogs, chili, meat loaf, steak and potatoes? Pass the ketchup. Apple Computers, Harry Potter? Pass the Garamond.

For the uninitiated, Claude Garamond was a punchcutter in 15th-16th century France. (Punchcutters developed the physical forms of a typeface by cutting letters into metal.) He created a beautiful typeface that bears his name. Although some argue it should bear Jean Jannon’s name, a fellow punchcutter in France. There are many different versions of Garamond today, including ITC Garamond (A condensed style of this family was ubiquitous in the late 1970s and early 1980s. In fact, use that cut today and your design will feel old-fashioned.) Garamond 3 is another version, along with Stempel Garamond, ATF Garamond and many others. To my eyes, the ultimate cut is Adobe Garamond Pro. It is beautiful, versatile and comes with a large set of glyphs. It is also, interestingly enough, based on Claude Garamond’s designs and not on Jannon’s. Robert Slimbach finished designing it in 1989 for Adobe.

But let’s get back to how Garamond is like ketchup. Students use Garamond all of the time, perhaps a little too much. This is because it seems to go with anything. When trying to mix typefaces, choose a bold san serif and Garamond will serve as a nice compliment. ITC Franklin Demi? Garamond works quite nicely. Futura Bold? Garamond matches it. DIN 1451 Mittelschrift? Yep. Even Rosewood, for the past 3 years the most ubiquitous typeface since, uh, Garamond, is a good match to Garamond. The list goes on. And on. And on.

This isn’t really an essay for or against Garamond, but somewhat of a backhanded compliment to it for being so versatile. I’ve heard it said (and I agree) that if you choose Garamond no one will applaud your choice, but no one will disagree with it either. So, here’s to a typeface that has lasted 500 years. May it last 500 more. Now its lunchtime and I’m ready for a hamburger. Pass the Garamond, I mean the ketchup, please.

For more about the history of Garamond, log onto typophile.com. For more about the history of ketchup try wikipedia.