For some time, Eric de Berranger had wanted to create a distressed typeface design - one that gave the appearance of antique printing and showed signs of wear, yet was still highly readable. He was busy designing a new face called Maxime, when an idea struck: I realized that I could use these lettershapes as the basis for my antique typeface," he says. The two faces ended up being designed in tandem. While ITC Oldbook clearly captures the flavor of aged, uneven and imperfect printing, it also meets de Berranger's goal of being exceptionally readable in text sizes. Beginning with well-drawn characters was the key, and these were carefully modeled into the distressed forms. "The process was more difficult than I originally thought," says de Berranger. "The antique letters had to be tested and modified several times to work correctly." ITC Oldbook elegantly simulates antique printing in both text and display sizes. And while stroke weights are uneven and curves are irregular, the design has remarkably even color when set in blocks of text copy. Add to this the design's inherent legibility, and ITC Oldbook acquires a range far beyond replication of things old; it's suitable for any project that calls for warm and weathered typography. ITC Oldbook is available in roman and bold weights with complementary italic designs. Small caps, old style figures and a suite of alternate characters and ornaments provide additional flexibility and personality to the design."

A rather narrow and compact design, Monotype Clearface combines both old style and antique characteristics. The lowercase letters are tall, the ascenders and descenders quite short. The intention was to produce a typeface that was easy to read in small sizes, hence the name. Monotype Clearface Bold was first cut for mechanical composition in 1922, and was based on the Clearface Gothic design created by Morris Fuller Benton for ATF in 1910. Although designed as a text face, Monotype Clearface is now more commonly used in advertising and display work.

Are you looking for a font reflecting ancient times, antiques, knights and suchlike? Consider Stiletto, a beautiful, calligraphic-like design with special forms that evoke pleasant memories of old times.

Cattle Call JNL is reminiscent of Old West posters and broadsides. The design is based on an extra condensed antique wood type and is available in both regular and oblique versions.

Grande Parade JNL is a decorative version of Winnetka JNL, which was based on antique wood type. The look and feel of this design combines old-time typography and festive charm.