TYPE DESIGN INFORMATION PAGE last updated on Tue Apr 15 10:03:29 EDT 2025

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ABOUT

Philip Bouwsma

Type designer born in Boston in 1948 who created many exquisite designs such as Alexia (1992), Sallando Italic, Dorothea or Cresci Rotunda. His work shows the influence of masters such as Arthur Baker.

• A list of typefaces done for Agfa (which became Monotype): Alligators (dingbats), Aureus Uncial, Bollatica (a blackletter script), Carmela, Connach (a Gaelic font), Corvallis (1995), Cresci Rotunda (a rotunda), Dorothea, Francesca (1994), Hrabanus (1994, Monotype: Based on the lettering of Hrabanus Maurus, c. 776-856, archbishop of Mainz and author of many commentaries on the scriptures), Lexie's Animals, Ludovico, LudovicoWoodcut, Makondo (tribal glyphs), Mantegna (named after the renaissance era engraver Andrea Mantegna), Mariposa, Mariposa Sans, Mexican Birds, Borders&Symbols, Monmouth (1994, a Lombardic / blackletter face), Neuhengen, Ophelia Italic, Palatino Rotundo, Percival, Poggio Bookhand, Pompeii Capitals, Ramsey (1997, Lombardic face), Sallando Italic, Southwest (dingbats), Synthetica (1996), Thalia Italic, Trieste, van der Hoef Capitals (Monotype, an art deco typeface after 1920 lettering by Dutch artist Christian van der Hoef), and Wolfdance.
• At Alphabets Inc: Alexia (1992; a broad nib font), Benedict Uncial, BouwsmaScript, Juliana and Weissenau.
• A complete list of all Philip Bouwsma fonts on the Creative Alliance v9.0 CD: Alligators (1994, letters made up from alligators), Aqua Life (2005), Carmela, Clemente Rotunda, Corvallis (1995), Corvallis Oblique, Corvallis Sans, Corvallis Sans Oblique, Dorothea, Fransesca Gothic (1996, Lombardic / blackletter style), Hrabanus, Lexie's Animals, Lombardic Capitals (1994, Monotype), Ludovico Smooth, Ludovico Smooth Flourishes, Mariposa, Mariposa Bold, Mariposa Book, Mariposa BookItalic, Mariposa Black, Mariposa Medium, Mariposa Sans, Mariposa Sans Bold, Mariposa Sans Book, Mariposa Sans BookItalic, Mariposa Sans Black, Mariposa Sans Medium, Mexican Birds, Polenta Black Italic, Polenta Italic, Ter Gast, Ter Gast Alternates, Wolfdance, Wolftrack, Schildersblad Capitals (Dutch deco, at Monotype), Tresillian Roman, Tresillian Script (1999: a calligraphic script).
• From 2005 on, he started publishing his typefaces at Canada Type. There he published a fantastic calligraphic blackletter-inspired family, Torquemada, and Bouwsma Script (2006), an extension of his 1994 handwriting face. Still at Canada Type, he updated Alexia in 2006, and added Luminari in 2008, a Lombardic / uncial font influenced by the prolific humanist Poggio Bracciolini from the early fifteenth century (+Greek, +Cyrillic, +Celtic). The 8-style Bouwsma Text (2008, Canada Type) is a full-bodied truly "roman" family well worth visiting. The 5-style calligraphic script family Mirabel (2008, Canada Type) is based on the handwriting of Beverly Bouwsma (Philip's mother), which she developed in the 1930s. Styx (2008, Canada Type) is a 4-font connected calligraphic script family with rough and smooth variations. But his grandest achievement at Canada Type is perhaps Maestro (2009), a 40 style chancery family, in 2 weights each, with 3350 characters per font, co-designed with Patrick Griffin. Still in 2009, he designed the 6-style calligraphic Tupelo family. In 2010, his main contribution, with Patrick Griffin, is the calligraphic uncial Testament II. His Lorenzo family (2010, Canada Type) is has both chancery and calligraphic styles. In 2011, he published the Carolingian script family Symposium Pro, with the help of Patrick Griffin.

  In 2015, Bouwsma published te calligraphic typeface Lyra, an Italian Renaissance script somewhere between the humanist bookhand and the chancery cursive.

View Philip Bouwsma's typefaces.

EXTERNAL LINKS
Philip Bouwsma
 [Designer info]
Monotype link
Klingspor Museum page
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INTERNAL LINKS
Type designers ⦿ Type designers ⦿ Wood Type ⦿ Blackletter fonts ⦿ Type design in Mexico ⦿ Calligraphic typefaces ⦿ Handwriting fonts ⦿ Type scene in Connecticut ⦿ Type scene in Massachusetts ⦿ Celtic/Gaelic fonts ⦿ Lombardic types ⦿ Art deco typefaces ⦿ Chancery hand, cancellaresca ⦿ Rotunda / Rundgotisch ⦿ Carolingian typefaces ⦿ Uncial typefaces ⦿ Dingbats (original) ⦿