Palatino is:
two-dimensional
architecture based on
experience and
imagination and guided by
rules and readability
Creator Born in 1918 in Nuremberg, Germany, Hermann Zapf was a type designer and calligraphor. In his lifetime, he has created over 50 different typefaces. His most famous include Palatino, Optima, Aldus, and Zapfino. He passed away in 2015 at the age of 96. Zapf’s creations have been seen and put to use by designers and non-designers alike, and are still in use every day by those who don’t even know his name or the legacy he left behind.
“Actually, I didn’t want to become a type designer.”
History Palatino was produced by the Stempel Type Foundry that was founded in 1895 by David Stempel. It housed important typography designers that included Hermann Zapf until it closed in 1986. It was intended for headings, advertisements, and display printing. However, Palatino’s wide structure and wide apertures pushed Palatino to become popular for longer pieces. This includes body copy in scholarly articles and text books
ASCENDER HEIGHT CAP HEIGHT
The structure of having a high x-height, a wider set of letterforms, and unique characteristics push the legibility of the typeface.
X-HEIGHT
Palatino expresses Zapf’s expertise with calligraphy with its beautiful stroked lines reminscent to that of brushmarks. By including changing widths of strokes making up the characters, the type is created with a unique look. When using the type as a decorative element, the letterforms will produce a realistic human feel.
BASELINE
Purpose The wide structure Palatino was created so that it will still be able to be read on poor-quality paper, when it is read at a distance, or if text is printed at smaller sizes. These gives Palatino the potential to be used in various styles.
Since Palatino wasn’t originally meant for body text, so some characters were developed to stand out with various quirky, calligraphic features. Zapf later redesigned these to become more sober alternates, which have become what is used on most digital versions.
Regular Italic Bold Bold Italic
Pricing Palatino Pro Light Palatino Pro Roman Palatino Pro Medium Palatino Pro Bold Palatino Pro Black
- $45 - $45 - $45 - $45 - $45
Palatino Pro Light Italic Palatino Pro Roman Italic Palatino Pro Medium Italic Palatino Pro Bold Italic Palatino Pro Black Italic
- $45 - $45 - $45 - $45 - $45