columbus: 13 of 20

Beautiful text faces are released each year. Some of these survive and prosper, basking in their uniqueness and usefulness. They appear in newspapers, magazines, and books, on logotypes and signage, and even on the sides of city buses. Others – inexplicably – fall rapidly into obscurity.

Underrated type almost deserves extra attention, primarily because it is good type, and secondarily because it is – curiously – unseen and unused. I’ve compiled a list of underrated faces, and at the top rests Columbus, designed by Patricia Saunders and issued by Monotype in 1993.

Slightly heavy yet well-honed, Columbus is a hybrid of cultures and centuries, in that the Roman appears to derive from Venetian types of the late 1400s, whereas the italic (at least in the lower case) seems more a descendant of French letterforms of the early 16th century. But the mix is harmonious; the interplay among roman, italic, small caps, and numerals is exceptionally fluid. Moreover, full sets of ligatures are supplied, as are text and lining numerals as well as borders and fleurons.

This begs the obvious question: Why, a decade after its release, is Columbus so little known and so rarely seen? Several factors could contribute: Like another Monotype digitization of the 1990s – Pastonchi – it is under-marketed; unlike other Monotype faces, it has not been given away as a part of an operating system; maybe most people do not find it as beautiful or useful as I do.

At the very least, Columbus is well-made, thoughtfully equipped, and relatively inexpensive to license. Surely all typefaces should boast as much.

16-November 2002