Iowan Old Style
{{Short description|Typeface}}
{{Infobox typeface
| name = Iowan Old Style
| image = Iowan Old Style sample image.png
| style = Serif
| classifications = Old-style
| date = 1991
| creator = John Downer
| foundry = Bitstream
}}
Iowan Old Style is a digital serif typeface designed by John Downer and released by Bitstream in 1991.
Iowan Old Style is inspired by serif typefaces from Renaissance Italy, now called the “old-style” or Venetian model of typeface design, with influence from Downer’s work as hand-painter of signs.{{cite web|last1=Butterick |first1=Matthew |author-link=Matthew Butterick |title=Iowan Old Style |url=http://typographyforlawyers.com/iowan-old-style.html |website=Typography for Lawyers |access-date=2 August 2015 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150116084100/http://typographyforlawyers.com/iowan-old-style.html |archive-date=January 16, 2015 }}{{cite web|last1=Hoefler|first1=Jonathan|author-link=Jonathan Hoefler|title=John Downer at The Propagandist|url=http://www.typography.com/blog/john-downer-at-the-propagandist|website=Hoefler & Frere-Jones|access-date=21 January 2016}}{{cite web|first=Alastair|last=Johnston|title=Alastair Johnston interviews John Downer|url=http://media.freshjive.net/JOHN_DOWNER_FULL_INTERVIEW.pdf|website=Alastair Johnston|access-date=21 February 2016|archive-date=20 December 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161220065047/http://media.freshjive.net/JOHN_DOWNER_FULL_INTERVIEW.pdf|url-status=dead}}
Compared to the historical models it is based on, Iowan has a higher x-height, meaning that the lower-case letters are taller and appear larger and wider, producing a design that is suitable for display and on-screen use.{{cite web|title=Iowan Old Style|url=http://www.identifont.com/similar?250|website=Identifont|access-date=2 August 2015}} It is used as a default font on the Apple Books application and is included as a system font on iOS and macOS.{{cite web|last1=Coles|first1=Stephen|title=Apple iBooks 1.5|url=http://fontsinuse.com/uses/2082/apple-ibooks-1-5|website=Fonts In Use|access-date=21 January 2016}}{{cite web|last1=Berry|first1=John|title=Text on the pages of iBooks|url=http://johndberry.com/blog/2011/12/12/text-on-the-pages-of-ibooks/|website=Easily Amused|access-date=21 January 2016}}
Design
Downer has described the design "more Venetian than Aldine" and influenced by lettering. It has diamond-dots (tittles) on the “i” and “j” similar to the Arts and Crafts-influenced Goudy Old Style.{{cite web|last1=Berry|first1=John|title=An American Typeface Comes of Age|url=http://creativepro.com/dot-font-an-american-typeface-comes-of-age/|website=dot creative|access-date=2 August 2015}}
Iowan began as a design for ITC, but after the company dropped plans to release it, the font was bought up by Matthew Carter of Bitstream, who digitized and released it. Bitstream later revisited the design, adding ornaments and titling capitals. The character set includes small capitals and ligatures, as well as Cyrillic characters. Stephen Coles, an expert on digital fonts, describes its design as “hardworking.”{{cite web|title=Recommended book text fonts|url=https://www.fontshop.com/people/stephen-coles/fontlists/book-text-recommended-alternatives|website=Fontshop|access-date=21 January 2016}}
Gallery
File:Oscar wilde english renaissance of art 2.png|An extended setting of a text by Oscar Wilde in Iowan Old Style, showing justified text and leading between the lines.
File:Iowan Old Style x-height.png|Iowan Old Style’s x-height compared to other serif fonts: higher than Caslon and Bembo, used in fine book printing, but lower than Lucida Bright which is intended for maximum legibility.
References
{{Reflist|30em}}
External links
- [https://www.myfonts.com/fonts/bitstream/iowan-old-style/ Commercial release] (MyFonts)
- [https://fontsinuse.com/typefaces/279/iowan-old-style Fonts in Use]
- [http://www.klingspor-museum.de/KlingsporKuenstler/Schriftdesigner/Downer/JohnDowner.pdf Font designer John Downer] - Klingspor Museum article on John Downer's work
- [http://typographica.org/on-typography/john-downer-speedballs/ John Downer Speedballs] (Typographica)
- [http://www.sostav.ru/columns/dutch/2004/5/ Sostav] (Russian) - page on Downer's lettering and influences
- [http://luc.devroye.org/usa-iowa.html Type design in Iowa] - Luc Devroye's page on Downer and other Iowa-based type designers
{{OS X typefaces}}
Category:Typefaces with text figures