Industry: Design

Caslon Doric

A synthesis of nineteenth-century sans-serif development from narrow to extended widths

Caslon Doric is a sans-serif type family designed by Paul Barnes with Thomas Bouillet, Dan Milne, and Tim Ripper, released under Commercial Type's Classics imprint, which is dedicated to recreating historical typefaces. It synthesizes nineteenth-century sans-serif styles—from early pioneering faces by Caslon and Figgins through later British foundry adoption of lowercase forms—spanning condensed to extended widths for use across sizes and applications.

Set in Caslon Doric

Insights

The source traces a specific historical arc: early-nineteenth-century sans pioneers (Caslon, Figgins), broad European and American uptake mid-century, and finally British foundries adding lowercase forms in the latter half of the century.
The family is structured across five named sub-families—Condensed, Condensed Round, regular, Wide, and Extended—treating historical width variation as a systematic design axis.
Released under Commercial Type's Classics imprint, which is described as focused on recreating old typefaces to bring historical forms back into use.