Constantia (typeface)
 | |
| Category | Serif |
|---|---|
| Classification | Transitional |
| Designer(s) | John Hudson[1] |
| Foundry | Microsoft |
| License | Proprietary |
Constantia is a serif typeface designed by John Hudson and commissioned by Microsoft.[2] It is a transitional serif design, influenced by Eric Gill’s Perpetua design. Development of the typeface began in 2003 and it was released in 2004.
Constantia is part of the ClearType Font Collection, a suite of fonts from various designers released with Windows Vista. All start with the letter C to reflect that they were designed to work well with Microsoft’s ClearType text rendering system, a text rendering engine designed to make text clearer to read on LCD monitors. The other fonts in the suite are Calibri, Cambria, Candara, Consolas and Corbel.
Features
[edit]Constantia was designed for either print or on-screen uses. Numerals are text figures by default, as seen on the sample image; the font also includes lining figures as an alternate style. Reviewing it for the website Typographica, Raph Levien described it as likely to be “everyone’s favourite face [in the suite]...a highly readable Roman font departing only slightly from the classical model, [but] it still manages to be fresh and new. It takes some inspiration from Perpetua...but the triangular serifs bring to mind a chisel, and the font has enough calligraphic flavor to recall Palatino.”[3] Among other features, the design includes small capitals, alternative spacing and punctuation for all caps text, numbers enclosed by circles, and superscript and subscript glyphs.
A transitional serif design, the design features moderate contrast between thick and thin strokes and a nearly-vertical axis. To render well in ClearType, the letters O and Q are slightly squared-off.
It is distributed with Microsoft Excel Viewer, Microsoft PowerPoint Viewer,[4][5] the Microsoft Office Compatibility Pack[6] for Microsoft Windows and the Open XML File Format Converter for Mac.[7]
Explaining its name, Hudson wrote: “I can’t remember all the possible names I came up with, each of which ended up rejected after international trademark searches...I’d been singing some psalms during vespers, and noticed the word constantia. Hey, I thought, that starts with C!”[8] Writing in 2011, Hudson commented, “I actually don’t like the name Constantia very much, and every time I see the sea birds on the dock while I’m waiting for the ferry I wish I’d thought to call it Cormorant.”[9]
References
[edit]- ^ "Constantia - Version 5.50". Microsoft Corp. Retrieved 23 February 2011.
- ^ Now read this: the Microsoft ClearType font collection. Redmond: Microsoft Corporation. 2004. pp. 24-27 etc.
- ^ Levien, Raph. "Microsoft's ClearType Font Collection: A Fair and Balanced Review". Typographica. Retrieved 24 November 2014.
- ^ Excel Viewer
- ^ Powerpoint Viewer
- ^ Microsoft Office Compatibility Pack for Word, Excel, and PowerPoint File Formats
- ^ Open XML File Format Converter for Mac 1.2.1
- ^ Tuck, Michael. "A Comprehensive Guide to Windows Vista Fonts for Designers". Six Revisions. Retrieved 28 July 2015.
- ^ Hudson, John. "Corbel discussion". Typophile forum thread. Archived from the original on 30 October 2014. Retrieved 28 September 2014.
External links
[edit]
- Van Wagener, Anne (March 4, 2005). "The Next Big Thing in Online Type". Poynter Online. Archived from the original on June 4, 2006. Retrieved 2006-06-05.
- Microsoft ClearType Font Collection at Microsoft Typography
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