Shakespeare's Globe turns the First Folio's ornate letterforms into a working typeface
New typeface using intricate designs from Shakespeare's First Folio (2023)
Design studio Typeland partnered with Shakespeare's Globe to build Amifer Folio, a typeface drawn from the intricate decorative letterforms of the playwright's First Folio. Rather than a nostalgic pastiche, the project translates the 1623 book's ornamental details into a usable digital font, giving designers a way to bring the texture of early modern printing into contemporary work.
Shakespeare's Globe unveils a typeface using intricate designs from the playwright's First Folio.
- atombender
I thought this was going to be about the typeface used for the main text.
If anyone is curious, as I was, there is some academic research on this, although not a lot. The most in-depth "palaeotypographical" analysis I have found was this [1] paper, which also seems to correct a long-standing assumption about the printing:
"Visual and historical evidence have led me to suggest that the font is the second pica roman of the Huguenot punchcutter Pierre Haultin [...] cast for Jaggard’s use probably around 1603 or 1608 by an unknown typefounder who likely inherited the matrices from Pierre’s nephew Jerome Haultin. The font was old and in poor condition when it was used to print the Folio, which supports the view that Jaggard and his pressmen did not see the Folio as an unusually important book."
[1] http://reedreibstein.com/assets/reibstein-first-folio.pdf
- bana-io
So where is the font? I can't find it.
- bryanrasmussen
original title: Shakespeare’s Globe unveils typeface using intricate designs from playwright’s First Folio