We were fascinated by the complex persona of Blackletter in Germany and drawn to its emotive ornament and its sensual, non-geometry. Our hope was simple: to make something useful and beautiful out of something that most people consider to be neither. Nevertheless, FontHaus's release includes not only both sets of caps, but a range of alternates and a number of new characters not originally available such as the Euro, and a magnificent alternate Ampersand to name a few.Įnzian is the fruit of a yearlong German Chancellor Fellowship sponsored by the Alexander von Humboldt Foundation. Perhaps this is what led to the simpler caps being introduced. The original caps are criticized in one source Mark found (Practical Handbook on Display Typefaces, 1959) as being "exquisite" but "not highly legible". Later on, these appear to have been replaced by a set of simpler, more traditional script caps. The original had very elaborate, swirly strokes, very characteristic of Excoffon¹s gestural designs for posters and logos. So we are left with two different sets of caps. The caps in earlier specimens of Diane are completely different from specimens published later, suggesting that the face was redesigned at some point, perhaps in the mid-1960s. Furthermore, the more we researched Diane, many curious facts came to light. In most cases, only the caps and lowercase were shown. Finding full specimens of the font turned out to be quite a challenge. Simonson painstakingly researched rare type books, publications, European metal type services, and period showings from the United States, England, Germany and from the University of Groningen in the Netherlands. In close collaboration with Mark Simonson, FontHaus and Mr. Designed by the legendary French designer Roger Excoffon in 1956, this remarkable script has never been faithfully recreated until now. Thirteen years later, FontHaus came across another little known typeface treasure: Diane. Discovering a lost typeface by one of the major designers of the 20th Century, was the discovery of a buried treasure, and being the first type company to release it was an honor. In 1995, FontHaus came upon a rare opportunity to create a revival of Aries, a little known and previously unavailable typeface by the legendary Eric Gill.