Condensed, serifed fonts, nicely readable at 9pt?
I need a font for a booklet in which space is a rare good. So I am looking for a font with the following attributes:
1) Well readable at 9pts
i.e. comfortable for long-distance reading
2) Condensed
3) Typographic workhorse
the whole nine yards: medieval, tabular, smallcaps, ligatures, weights, etc.)
4) Serif
I know this asks much, but the project is like that. I’d be very grateful for your suggestions.
16.Nov.2005 9.12am
Sounds like a good idea.
I could start work on it early 2006.
I expect you want Greek and Cyrillic also, as well as medieval.
And why not go the whole hog with an Extended as well.
Should be ready in 4 or 5 years.
What’s your budget?
16.Nov.2005 11.51am
Minion Pro Condensed Opticals might be suitable.
16.Nov.2005 12.58pm
We have something like that coming out in January 2006. Condensed 8 weights with small caps roman, corresponding italics (no SC in the Italic) four figure styles, ligatures, ordinals. Good readability at nine point. Drop me a line and we can get you a sample pdf.
James
16.Nov.2005 1.09pm
Nick you got beat by James. I like your Avatar
16.Nov.2005 2.13pm
>no SC in the Italic
Slacker :-)
16.Nov.2005 4.31pm
Enschede’s Collis fits the description (if you have the money), altough it has no bold, but who needs bold? Neither Aldus or Bodoni did.
Héctor
17.Nov.2005 1.54am
Thanks for your suggestions. I realise that it may be a bit too much to ask from a font, but then again - I wouldn’t post here if there were easy answers. One should reach for the stars, shouldn’t one? :-)
Collis is very elegant and very expensive. I have Minion Pro, which I will probably use, but still find a bit ’common’.
@nick: The project is non-commercial. It is part of a assignment for typography class at the art academy. So there is practically no budget at all.
24.Nov.2005 11.56am
Sumner Stone’s Cycles.
http://www.designinflight.com/05April/not_all_fonts_are_created_equal.ht...
hhp
24.Nov.2005 12.57pm
Yes, Collis is quite a gem.
If you can see yourself using it regularly, however, it might just be a good idea to shell out for it. If you can get it in OpenType, you’ll basically have a font that will last for years. I know that Type 1 fonts, for example, have been in general use since what, the early ’80s? And they’ll still be useful for a few more years.
27.Nov.2005 6.58am
Ungers Gulliver comes to mind (and keeps it Dutch).