Note all of the text below is set at size 80pt and leading of 80pt. Other well known examples of Old Style fonts include Garamond, Gaudy Old Style, Perpetua and Minion Pro. If you find that’s the case, you could consider using the fonts below for headings and sub-headings. There is an argument that for print-based work serif fonts are the best, while for the web/screen sans-serif fonts are easiest to read. Old Styles don’t jump off the page with any sort of quirkiness and that’s what makes them easy on the eye. They can also work well on the web and two Old Style fonts are considered to be web-safe: Times New Roman and Palatino Linotype. That’s why you’ll find them used heavily in newspapers, magazines and books. Old Style typefaces are considered to be the best type for large amounts of body text on paper. The very first italic letters were produced with Old Style fonts in the early 1500s. The serifs on Old Styles are always angled and if you draw a line though the thinnest parts of the letters, you’ll see that the stress is diagonal. Unlike Modern typefaces, the thick/thin transition is moderate and not so obvious. Their relation to calligraphy can be seen in the curved strokes and letters with thick to thin transitions, looking somewhat like letters drawn with a pen and ink. Old Style (occasionally referred to as Humanist) typefaces are based on hand lettering of scribes and they first appeared in the late 15th century, before Modern typefaces. I think for all of us, our design work can only improve when we become more aware of the different categories of fonts, their characteristics and similarities, and for what purpose they are most suited, whether we work in web or print design. Last week, we had a look at the Modern typeface and to continue this series of posts on font categories, today we’ll take a look at the beautiful Old Style typeface.
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