ITC Tactile embraces paradox. Consider these subtle typographic contradictions: Capitals have traditional epigraphic proportions while the lowercase offers uniform optical width. Stately, elegant light weights rub shoulders with bold designs that are almost jolly. The alphabet even combines two distinctly different serif designs.
These apparent inconsistencies are both purposeful and clearly motivated. Designer Joe Stitzlein explains, “I wanted to create a modern and dynamic serif face that drew its forms from antiquity. I also wanted to have as much fun as possible with the drawing and architecture of each letter.” His goal was to create “a very legible typeface that grabs the reader’s eye in a nice, ‘tactile’ way.”
The thinking behind the seemingly odd serif design is similarly clear-headed. “The transitional serif is an entry point for the eye into the letterform, and the long slab is an exit, leading to the next letter,” Stitzlein says. His strategy has paid off: Tactile remains easy to read at text sizes, but when enlarged for display copy, details emerge that quickly set Tactile apart from more traditional designs.
The ITC Tactile family is available in three weights with complementary italic designs, as well as a suite of small caps for each of the roman designs. Stitzlein drew the small caps to match the height of the lowercase x-height, enabling the creation of eye-catching display copy in biform (also known as “unicase”) settings.