In 1989, Fiona MacCarthy’s biography of Gill revealed some reprehensible aspects of his private life, including acts of incest and bestiality that he documented in his diary, earning him posthumous scorn.  But for much of the 20th Century, he was a hero to artists and designers, renowned for his skills in type design, calligraphy, sculpture and drawing. 

He wrote several books, produced erotic engravings, sculpted architectural friezes and designed a number of typefaces, including Perpetura, inspired by Roman inscriptions.  Gill Sans, his most popular typeface, was as ubiquitous in England as Futura was in Western Europe for many years, and as Helvetica is today.  Joanna, a serif typeface commonly used for book texts, he named after his daughter and designed between 1930 and 1932.

Gill Sans uses the classic forms of “a” and “g”.  The rounded “c”, “e” and “f” are the first examples of vertical stroke ends, which create the optical effect of the stroke thinning towards the ending, alluding to Roman type.