*** From the Archives ***

This article is from December 22, 2008, and is no longer current.

New Typefaces with Old-World Tone

As the holiday season wraps us in the warmth and nostalgia of yuletide tradition, FontShop’s final release of 2008 strikes a decidely old-world tone with several historically inspired serif families and a typeface derived from the handwriting of an early 20th century author.
FF Mister K Pro
The manuscripts of author Franz Kafka had such a profound impact on Finnish graphic and type designer Julia Sysmäläinen that she decided to convert his handwriting with its unusually strong calligraphic characteristics into a digital script.

FF Reminga OT
FF Reminga is a fresh take on the Garamond tradition, rather sober (for Xavier Dupré’s work) and especially legible at 10–12 points. It also comes in a Titling version which is narrower and even more elegant and calligraphic. FF Reminga isn’t a new design, but the improvements Dupré made for the new OpenType version are so noteworthy that it deserves a mention up here in the new releases. Get the Pro version for extended language support. ??

Romain BP
At first glance, Romain BP appears to be a classical serif face, a refined and elegant revival. But further inspection reveals forms based on mathematical, not calligraphic ideals. Unlike its 17th century French model, Romain BP Text is more synthetic in its structure, more radical and modern. Meanwhile, Romain BP Headline is a complementary font, which fully exploits the graphic potential of the original model with striking contrast and ornamental ligatures and detail.

Adam BP
Adam is the first typeface made in Estonia specially for reading sizes and continuous text. Because Anton Koovit had no local text typefaces to look at, Adam’s influences come from many different sources. But it is the impetus for the design that might be most interesting.??While at the Royal Academy in the Hague (KABK), Koovit sought to create a typeface for art manifestos. As the project grew (to over 700 glyphs per font) it became clear that such documents require, like any other text which is to be seen and read, readability across long distances of copy. The family also needed variants for the creation of hierarchies (to represent the writing of multiple authors). So Adam has been made with multiple weights, a fitting true italic and four display stencil-based cuts. The result is a family well-suited for curatorial and critical writings, gallery publications, magazine articles, and signage.

LaPolice BP
François Rappo’s LaPolice is loosely based on 18th century specimens by Claude Lamelse’s foundry in Paris. Despite its roots, LaPolice is a contemporary design, dynamic in its balance, with a touch of irony in its references of historic details.

Capsa
Capsa is a typeface designed for use in books. Although inspired by Gros Romain Ordinaire and Saint Augustin Gros Oeil from the type specimens of Claude Lamesle, this voluptuous design does not intend to be a strict revival. While the basic glyph set is sober enough for any text, the included ligatures and swashes make Capsa headlines glide across the page with extravagant aplomb.

For much more information on these and other faces, visit FontShop.

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