 | |
| Category | Serif |
|---|---|
| Classification | Old-style |
| Designer(s) | John Downer |
| Foundry | Bitstream |
Iowan Old Style is adigitalseriftypeface designed byJohn Downer and released byBitstream in 1991.[1]
Iowan Old Style is inspired by serif typefaces fromRenaissanceItaly, now called the “old-style” or Venetian model of typeface design, with influence from Downer’s work as hand-painter of signs.[2][3][4]
Compared to the historical models it is based on, Iowan has a higherx-height, meaning that the lower-case letters are taller and appear larger and wider, producing a design that is suitable fordisplay and on-screen use.[5] It is used as a default font on theApple Books application and is included as a system font oniOS andmacOS.[6][7]
Downer has described the design "more Venetian than Aldine" and influenced by lettering.[4] It hasdiamond-dots (tittles) on the “i” and “j” similar to theArts and Crafts-influencedGoudy Old Style.[1]
Iowan began as a design forITC, but after the company dropped plans to release it, the font was bought up byMatthew Carter ofBitstream, who digitized and released it.[4]Bitstream later revisited the design, addingornaments and titling capitals.[1] The character set includessmall capitals andligatures, as well as Cyrillic characters. Stephen Coles, an expert on digital fonts, describes its design as “hardworking.”[8]
macOS typefaces | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Latin,Greek,Cyrillic |
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| Non-alphabetic | |||||||||
