Golden Cockerel Type

Printing a specimen for a type company has its challenges and rewards. Type manufacturers tend to give designers more leeway in producing specimens that will show off their fonts, but of course there are pressures and restrictions involved. In today’s wild market for typefaces, economics are key, and such materials must be produced on tight budgets. This book was printed in black ink only throughout (with a second color only behind the illustrations), but printing it letterpress (for the text) helped to set it apart from the average job. A careful selection of good papers for the text (Simpson Teton) and jacket (imported Hahnemuhle Bugra) was a key element. Lissa Dodington and I worked carefully on the typesetting, using unusually tight word spacing and occasionally careful adjustment of the kerning to show this somewhat weighty, unusual type to best advantage. Again, it was a pleasure working with a sympathetic client who is also a good friend (Mark Batty). The excellence of the texts he procured for this publication enhanced the project greatly, in my opinion.