Hidden Gem Cachet™

WHY CACHET

Cachet appears to be constructed of straight and nearly-straight strokes. A closer look, however, reveals several subtleties. Curved strokes have an almost calligraphic, spontaneity. Places where character strokes meet are tapered slightly while stroke ends have been flared. These quite deviations from the obvious give Cachet a human, organic, and decidedly non-digital look. An added benefit is that the subtle design modulation benefits readability

ANCESTRY

• Farey and Dawson drew Cachet to resemble a fixed-pitch typeface – each character occupying the same horizontal space – yet aimed for greater legibility and warmth than typical designs constrained by such limitations. Terminals are subtly rounded to further enhance Cachet’s friendly demeanor. This detail is delicate in the lighter weights but becomes increasingly pronounced in heavier styles. The result is a distinctive, readable, and approachable typeface.
• First announced with just three roman weights, and no italics, Farey and Dawson, soon realized that additional weights would give designers a more versatile family. As a result, five new weights joined the original three. The Cachet family now ranges from a stately thin to a robust heavy weight and each roman design has a complementary italic. In all, a total of 16 typefaces.

PAIRING CACHET

• Glyphic design traits, like those in Cartier Book™ or New Veljovic®, will provide a subtle nuance to Cachet’s structured forms.
• Slab Serif or Clarendon typefaces, with subtle to overt humanistic design traits, will create a more pronounced counterpoint.
• Old Style typeface designs like Berkeley Old Style or Palatino® Nova, with humanistic shapes and proportions, are natural complements to Cachet.
• Avoid most sans serif fonts. Some geometric designs, like Futura® Now or Neue Kable™, can pair well with Cachet. The weights of the two designs, however, should be significantly different from each other.

CLASSIC FACTS

• Farey and Dawson considered adding condensed designs and alternate characters to the Cachet family, but these were not productized.
• David Farey was born in London in 1943. At the age of 16, he left school, reflecting later that “my major achievement was winning an italic handwriting prize.” After a few false starts in his career, Farey secured an apprenticeship at Letraset’s London design office. There, he mastered his craft and quickly became one of Letraset’s most prolific designers.
• According to Farey, “Cachet is a monospaced, monostroke typeface – that isn’t.”

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