III · Specimen drawer

Twelve faces. None of them real.

Imagine a studio that keeps a flat file of every typeface it would draw if someone ever paid for it. We don't have a flat file. We have this page. Open a drawer.

  1. 67b-A/01 Display sans

    Dover Grotesque

    A severe, low-contrast sans that behaves well above 36pt and poorly below.

    Note: Imagined in 12 weights; we would have drawn the italic last.

  2. 67b-A/02 Text serif

    Paternoster

    Old-style, high-caliber bookface. Chunky terminals. Designed for 9.5/13 in a signature of 16.

    Note: Built for long reading. Ink-trapped where it matters; not where it doesn't.

  3. 67b-A/03 Monospace

    Keel

    A monospace for setting prose, against advice. Narrow figures, flat terminals, real italic.

    Note: Indexed for column widths of 66, 72, 80, 88, 96.

  4. 67b-A/04 Signage

    Civic Plate

    Drawn for enamel plates at 250mm viewing distance. Tested on rain.

    Note: Only three weights: Signal, Marker, Plaque.

  5. 67b-A/05 Newsface

    Gazette

    A narrow serif that gives up some charm for more column inches.

    Note: Companion sans: Gazette Grot. Both share metrics.

  6. 67b-A/06 Numerals

    Tollbooth

    A numerals-only family. Five weights, lining and old-style, tabular and proportional.

    Note: For ledgers, train timetables, footnotes.

  7. 67b-A/07 Book titling

    Cicero

    An all-caps titling face. Romans only. Never italicise it.

    Note: Intended for one line at a time.

  8. 67b-A/08 Packaging

    Market

    A friendly, slightly-cartoonish sans for short, loud phrases on paper bags.

    Note: Retains dignity under risograph.

  9. 67b-A/09 Text sans

    Fen

    A quiet humanist sans for body text. Does not call attention to itself.

    Note: Three optical sizes: Micro, Text, Display.

  10. 67b-A/10 Cut stone

    Plaque

    A Roman capital family designed to be cut, not printed.

    Note: Metrics respect the mason's thumb.

  11. 67b-A/11 Wayfinding

    Ferryman

    A signage family with high x-height and closed apertures, for bad weather.

    Note: Works at 70° off-axis.

  12. 67b-A/12 Utility

    Errata

    A monospace annotation face for editor's marks.

    Note: Never set body text in it. We're serious.

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