Untitled Case

No roman — italic as the primary style, by design

Alizé is a three-weight Latin typeface designed by Tom Grace and published by TypeTogether, inspired by 16th-century chancery italics. The family contains no upright roman; italic is the primary style, following historical printing conventions of the 16th and 17th centuries. Capitals, small capitals, and figures are only slightly inclined, reflecting the historical gap between the development of italic lowercase and inclined capitals. A low x-height with pronounced ascenders and descenders amplifies the Venetian-style italic influence, while a sharper slope distinguishes it from that model.

Set in Alizé

Insights

The italic lowercase historically predates inclined capitals by several decades; Alizé encodes this by keeping capitals only slightly inclined relative to a fully sloped lowercase.
High contrast, axis syncopations, and deliberate proportional irregularities are the mechanisms used to produce a handmade quality.
Low x-height and long extenders are retained and amplified beyond their Venetian-italic precedent as markers of finesse and luxury.
The family was released in 2009 (Version 1.000) and has been optimised for varied screen environments.