Font me!

May 15, 2011 8:52 PM

Is there a name for this pretty typographic presentation? Is there a way to get a print of it?

I'd love to get some typography themed art on my wall, but not sure if there's a name for what I'm looking for. Sort of like a study in a particular font?

posted by leotrotsky to Home & Garden (8 answers total)

Wikipedia's category hierarchy suggests "typeface sample"; for instance, here's an article on monospaced fonts exhibiting the same style you're looking for. Some of the linked image descriptions also use "typeface specimen."
posted by Rhaomi at 9:07 PM on May 15, 2011

type specimen
posted by MaddyRex at 9:08 PM on May 15, 2011

Yep, specimen. (Also, hey! I'm famous!)
posted by AkzidenzGrotesk at 9:09 PM on May 15, 2011

Different specimen, but free - 80 page download from David Berlow.
posted by unliteral at 9:24 PM on May 15, 2011 [2 favorites]

OddHero does some great typographic prints that may interest you, even though they aren't straight typeface samples.
posted by grapesaresour at 10:03 PM on May 15, 2011

Response by poster: They're great, I think I'll pick up the Futura. It's only...

$380

Ouch.
posted by leotrotsky at 10:10 PM on May 15, 2011

Best answer: Like others have said, it's a typeface specimen. The user who created them left this message explaining the technique (short version: he makes them in quarkXpress). You could download the SVG versions from wikipedia and have (a) somebody with a color laser printer (b) a print shop print out large versions for your wall; this would almost certainly be cheaper than the 380$ above.
posted by beerbajay at 12:20 AM on May 16, 2011

Response by poster: Totally did it! I've got 4 20x24 prints (Caslon, Gill Sans, Didot, & Akzidenz-Grotesk) framed and mounted. .svg files are AWESOME!
posted by leotrotsky at 12:55 PM on May 21, 2011