Designer, Hermann Zapf, aimed to create a typeface that was suitable for use in newspaper columns or short publications. The Melior font family’s strong and sturdy letterforms give the typeface a formal look while aiding readability. The resulting design excels in text sizes and is an ideal choice for newspapers and more formal documents.
The characters feature a noticeable difference in stroke widths. This contrast further enhances the design’s readability. Other characteristics include heavy dropped serifs on the horizontal tails characters like the uppercase Z and T. One quirk of this typeface is that the uppercase “A” has no serif at the apex, unlike the M and N.
The uppercase Melior font family is fairly wide with Zapf basing his open characters like the “O” on a squared-off ellipse. It is postulated that Kapf took this idea about form from Piet Hein, a prominent scientist, mathematician and poet from Denmark. Piet suggested that the squared off ellipse – described mathematically as a super-ellipsoid - might be the ideal shape for design applications and went about promoting its qualities through his work.
