Type Trading Cards: Cachet/Joanna

Cachet

At first glance, Cachet appears to be constructed of straight and nearly straight strokes. A closer look, however, reveals several subtleties. Curved strokes have an almost calligraphic, spontaneity. David Farey, the face’s designer, also paid special attention to the places where character strokes joined and to stroke terminals. Places where character strokes meet are tapered slightly while stroke ends have been flared. These quiet deviations from the obvious give the design a human, organic, and decidedly non-digital look. An added benefit is that the subtle design modulation benefits readability.

Joanna

Joanna has been called the most engaging of Eric Gill’s typefaces. Drawn by Gill and first cut in 1931, by the Caslon foundry for the exclusive use of Gill’s printing firm, Hague & Gill. It is fitting that the first use of the font was to set Gill’s own “Essay on Typography.” In 1937 Monotype produced a machine-set version for the exclusive use of J M Dent & Sons who had acquired Hague & Gill. The company later agreed to a general release of the small family of roman and italic designs at which time Monotype added these fonts to their prestigious typeface library.

The design is, as Gill himself described it, “a book face free from all fancy business.” Modestly sized capitals (shorter than the lowercase ascenders), moderate contrast between thick and thin in character strokes, small, straight serifs and a quite elegance separate this design from most other serif typeface designs.

Instructions for printing the card templates, as well as information on purchasing the pre–cut cardstock can be found on the Avery® Web site.

Download the Type Trading Card here (PDF)

• Allan Haley is Director of Words & Letters at Monotype Imaging. Here he is responsible for strategic planning and creative implementation of just about everything related to typeface designs. He is also responsible for editorial content for the company’s type libraries and Web sites.
• Prior to working for Monotype, Mr. Haley was Principal of Resolution, a consulting firm with expertise in fonts, font technology, type and typographic communication. He was also executive vice president of International Typeface Corporation.
• Mr. Haley is ex officio Chairman of the Board of the Society of Typographic Aficionados, and past President of the New York Type Directors Club. He is highly regarded as an educator and is a frequently requested speaker at national computer and design conferences.
• Mr. Haley is also a prolific writer, with five books on type and graphic communication and hundreds of articles for graphic design publications to his credit.