Roman lettering
[21] The style has been used for lettering where a feeling of timelessness was wanted, for example on First World War memorials and government buildings, but also on shopfronts, posters, maps, and other general uses.
[3] Johnston himself generally did not do monumental and inscription design: he tended to prefer calligraphy and many of his commissions were creating documents, like charters, ornamental record books and certificates.
[60][61] The lettering used by British artists did not always follow the Trajan capital model, often adding changes such as serifs on the top of the 'M' and 'N',[62][63][64] and of course the lower case, Arabic numerals and italics which the Romans did not have.
"[67] A reason for this codification to come soon after was the First World War, where savage loss of life led to the creation of many monuments and memorials.
[27] The style was used very widely, however;[70] Nash comments that "the English tradition in lettering and typography...owed a great deal to its charismatic pioneers, such as Lethaby, Johnston, Gill and [Stanley] Morison.
[71][k][l] Roman-style lettering also became used for major institutions such as the Post Office,[74][75] and (later) by the Ministry of Works,[13] on many British street signs, using a design by David Kindersley,[76][77] and on London blue plaques.
The wide use of Roman capitals as a "house style" dominating design in the first half of the twentieth century was limited to the UK; Nicolete Gray commented in 1960 that "it has been a purely English movement, and one sees no traces of it on the Continent.
One does, however, see many examples in [the] U.S.A. where apart from English influence the work of the letter carver John Howard Benson has been important.
[93][94] Other typefaces reproducing Roman capitals were produced in France in the nineteenth century, for instance for scholarly publications.
Additionally, custom lettering and signwriting in general has declined in use due to the arrival of phototypesetting and desktop publishing, making it possible to print from a computer font at any size.
[113][114][115][116][117] Several digital fonts specifically based on use of Trajan lettering by Arts and Crafts movement artists have also been published.
