Quoin Type

Typefaces for print, screens and signs.

Printing our specimen book

Ninety-six pages, three paper stocks and a lot of 7-point type. Notes from printing the foundry specimen.

Rows of round, worn typewriter keys painted white, on an old machine standing outdoors in the sun

Screens flatter type. To see how a family really behaves, you have to print it small on uncoated paper, where ink spreads and thin strokes break.

For the specimen book we printed every family at 7, 9 and 11 points on three papers: a rough uncoated stock, a smooth offset paper and a coated silk. Almanac Text held up on all three. Bellweather at 7 points lost its hairlines on the rough paper, which is why the optical size axis now goes down to 9 and the small sizes are heavier.

The printed edition sold out at the bookfair. The PDF edition has the same pages, print-ready with crop marks, so you can print a spread yourself and see the type on your own paper.