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Alisal™

by Monotype
Individual Styles from $29.99 USD
Complete family of 3 fonts: $246.99 USD
Alisal Font Family was designed by Matthew Carter and published by Monotype. Alisal contains 3 styles and family package options.

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About Alisal Font Family


Matthew Carter has been refining his design for Alisal for so long, he says, that when he was asked to complete the design for the Monotype Library, it was almost as if he were doing a historical revival of his own typeface. The illusion even extended to changes in his work process: although he now does all his preliminary and final drawing on screen, the first trial renderings of Alisal were done as pencil renderings.

Alisal is best classified as an Italian old style design. Originally created between the late 15th and mid-16th centuries in northern Italy, the true Italian old styles were some of the first roman types. They tend to be the most calligraphic of serifed faces, with the axis of their curved strokes inclined to the left, as if drawn with a flat-tipped pen or brush. These designs offer sturdy, free-flowing and heavily bracketed serifs, short descenders, and a modest contrast in stroke weight.

Alisal has nearly all the classic Italian old style character traits, plus a few quirks of its own. It is calligraphic in nature, with more of a pen-drawn quality than faces like Palatino or Goudy Old Style. It is more rough-hewn than either Goudy's Kennerley or Benton's Cloister, and is generally heavier in weight than most of the other Italian old style designs. One place where Alisal makes a clean break with traditional old style designs is in the serifs. While sturdy and clearly reflecting pen-drawn strokes, Alisal's serifs have no bracketing and appear to be straight strokes crossing the main vertical.

Like Caslon or Trajanus, Alisal is a handsome design when viewed as a block of copy. Ascenders are tall and elegant, and serve as a counterpoint to the robust strength of the rest of the design. Alisal is available as a small family of roman and bold with a complementary italic for the basic roman weight, providing all that is needed for the majority of text typography.

Alisal is not as well-known as some of Carter's other typefaces, but this lovely and long-incubated design was certainly worth the wait.

Designers: Matthew Carter

Publisher: Monotype

Foundry: Monotype

Design Owner: Carter & Cone Type Inc.

MyFonts debut: Dec 12, 2001

Alisal™ is a trademark of Carter & Cone Type Inc. and may be registered in certain jurisdictions.

About Monotype

The Monotype Library is one of the world’s largest and most comprehensive collection of typefaces, featuring original designs of historical importance and a fresh range of contemporary and fashionable fonts. The Monotype Library includes thousands of timeless classics, hand-crafted revivals and original designs from many of the most innovative type designers and foundries in history. This distinctive, award-winning library of premium fonts provides brands and designers with a broad and reliable selection of typefaces for expressive typography in print and on screen. The Premium Foundry page can be viewed Here.

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