Berthold Block was released in 1908; Berthold later added additional weights and styles, also releasing
phototypesetting versions. Berthold also used the name "Block" for a number of other typefaces not particularly closely related to it as a
brand extension marketing strategy. These included the script font "Block-Signal" and the
blackletter Block-Fraktur. It was often used by
Praktiker and by the
Whitechapel Art Gallery for branding in the 1970s and 80s. In the late 1970s, Berthold re-released three lighter-weight fonts derived from the Block design as a mini-family named "Berliner Grotesk" for phototypesetting, with the font redraw carried out by
Erik Spiekermann.
Digitisations A variety of digitisations of Block exist, including by Berthold and successor companies and by
Bitstream (the condensed weight only). Paratype of Moscow released an expansion with Cyrillic characters in 1997.
Matthew Butterick's Hermes, first released by
Font Bureau and later self-released, is a loose adaptation also inspired by other German
grotesque typefaces of the period, adding lighter weights and unicase features. ==References==