Typeface Design for Lineto
From a Gulliver's Travels copy to French Vogue to variable font
LL Catalogue is a contemporary serif revival developed by Nazareno Crea and Lineto between 2008 and 2025, based on Alexander Phemister's 1858 Old Style Antique No. 7 for the Edinburgh and London foundry Miller & Richard. The project began when M/M (Paris) copied the face from an old edition of Gulliver's Travels in 2002 and used it for their 2003 French Vogue redesign, after which Lineto redrew the design from scratch following archival research. To capture authentic letterforms, new hot-metal types were moulded from original matrices; the resulting prints served as the basis for digital redrawing. A 2025 overhaul added variable-font support, expanded the character set, and refined spacing and kerning.
Set in LL Catalogue
Insights
- New hot-metal types were moulded from original matrices; the resulting prints served as the direct basis for digital redrawing, preserving metal imperfections while allowing optical corrections.
- Three distinct serif style variants were explored during development; only the original was published to maintain a clearly defined character.
- The 2025 update converted the family to a variable font without altering its historic quirks, alongside character-set expansion and spacing optimisation.
- Font engineering and mastering was handled by Alphabet, Berlin.
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