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ABOUT

Russell Maret

Russell Maret is a type designer and letterpress printer working in New York City. He is a fellow of the American Academy in Rome and the current North American Chair of the Fine Press Book Association. He has written and lectured widely on the intersection of letter design, technology, and the private press book.

In 2012, he used Kickstarter to fund a metal type project for Cancellaresca Milanese and its companion roman, Gremolata. He writes: Cancellaresca Milanese is based on a type that first appeared in Milan in 1541 in the books of Giovanni Antonio Castiglione. The type distinguishes itself in its combination of calligraphic energy with a minimal slope in its lower case and its comparatively small, upright capitals. Generally viewed as a descendent of the typefaces of Ludovico degli Arrighi, Castiglione's type has a darker, rougher quality than Ludovico's---its grace is a forceful one. In the design of Cancellaresca Milanese I have attempted to retain the liveliness of Castiglione's original type by resisting the temptation to "correct" the slightly modulating alignment or homogenize the finial strokes on the ascending and descending characters. The type is outfitted with both corsiva (as in the original) and formata descenders as well as a significant number of compound ligatured characters. He already did digital versions: I first developed the digital predecessor of the type for my book Aethelwold Etc in 2009 and I have used it in a few publications, taking each opportunity to redraw and refine the characters. I designed Gremolata in 2011 as a companion roman for Cancellaresca Milanese to be used in my book Specimens of Diverse Characters. For Gremolata, I designed a slightly larger set of capitals based on those in the Cancellaresca, and paired them with a lower case that is inspired, but not based on, Alpine typefaces of the mid-sixteenth century.

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INTERNAL LINKS
Type designers ⦿ Type designers ⦿ Type scene in New York ⦿ Chancery hand, cancellaresca ⦿ Letterpress ⦿