Presumably, the wiggle was added to keep the j from having to be kerned. This letter is a Bruce Rogers invention since Nicolas Jenson did not have a j in his typeface. It spaces poorly and creates a visible tic in a block of text.Ĭentaur (Bruce Rogers, private 1914 Monotype Corp., 1929 based on the type of Nicolas Jenson, 1470) The R in Centaur also has a leg that juts out, but the flawed letter is the odd j with its dirk-like wiggle. Its leg sticks out a bit less than Bembo's but it also dips noticeably below the baseline. The model for Bembo.įF Quadraat (Fred Smeijers, FontShop, 1992)įF Quadraat is another font with a problematic R. Top line: Bembo, Bembo Book MT Pro and Bembo Book MT Pro with alternate R Bottom line: FF Quadraat and FF Quadraat kernedĭetail of De Aetna (1495) typeface by Francesco Griffo. Unfortunately, the long-legged R remains the default character. Both Rs are once again available with Bembo Book Pro. Unfortunately, in the phototype era the second R was the only one available and that situation continued with the PostScript version of Bembo. The hot metal version of Bembo came with two versions of R, one with a short leg intended for text composition and the other with an elegantly extended leg intended for titling purposes. Goudy Oldstyle detail from 1923 ATF Type Specimen.īembo (Monotype Corp., 1929 based on the 1495 roman type of Francesco Griffo) Goudy Oldstyle compared to Adobe Garamond Pro. In the digital world there is no reason why Goudy Oldstyle cannot be restored to its proper look. Most of the descenders survived the abuse, but not the g. Goudy's design to fit its common line, a measurement instituted to insure that all of its typefaces could be aligned with each other. Goudy, American Type Founders, 1916)Īmerican Type Founders altered Frederic W. Ultimately, flaws are in the eye of the beholder. Disclaimer: These are opinions, not facts. This article attempts to explain the flaws in 23 fonts: what they are, why they matter, and what to do about them.

And yet there is a single character that ruins them or, at the very least, causes one to pause before specing them. The whole premise here is that they are good, perhaps even classic or wildly popular. A flawed typeface is one that either you avoid using entirely because of this lone defect or one that you use sparingly - and only then, after some alteration of either your design or the face itself to ameliorate the 'flaw.' Flawed typefaces are not bad or even mediocre. What constitutes a flawed typeface? For this article it is defined as a typeface that is perfectly fine - except for one nagging aspect, usually a single character.

Bembo typeface logo