A Note on the Font

Well, this isn’t right – the note on the font is normally at the back of the book, after the acknowledgements. You may wonder what it’s doing up here at the beginning, instead of the end. Is the font important? Maybe the font is a key part of the story. You’re right to question the placement of this note, but regardless, here it is.

This particular font is Garamond, which comes from the punch-cutter Claude Garamond (Latinised as garamondus). Garamond lived, historians believe, from 1480 to 1561. Many Garamond fonts resemble the work of punch-cutter Jean Jannon, or integrate the italic designs from Robert Granjon. However, among present-day typefaces, the Roman versions of Adobe Garamond, Granjon, Sabon, and Stempel Garamond are directly based on Garamond’s work.

Garamond’s letterforms suggest a sense of grace and constancy. Some unique characteristics in his letters include the small bowl of the “a,” the slender eye of the “e,” and the soaring upper-case “W,” which resembles two superimposed Vs. The lowercase italics z is particularly appealing, with its swooping extender, as in – zinc, zephyr, and azure. Garamond’s long extenders and top serifs have a delightful downward slope. Like all old-style designs, the variation in stroke width is presented in a way that resembles handwriting, creating a design that seems both organic and, for the most part, unembellished. Of course, Garamond’s lowercase italics z is the lovely exception.

Garamond is considered one of the most legible and readable serif typefaces when printed on paper. This sounds like one of those “true” things you read on the internet – something like ‘eating quinoa every day will add ten years to your life.’ Which is an unsubstantiated declaration someone posted years ago and it was re-posted, liked and shared millions of times, until it arrived in your social media feed and it’s almost true because it’s ubiquitous. Except, it’s complete bullshit. Or, that mantra from your mother – every time you talk with her it’s “Are you drinking eight cups of water a day, dear?” More bullshit. There is no science to back it up. It’s an urban myth. You probably need around six to eight cups per day but this is usually achieved through food, caffeinated beverages and even alcohol. And water, of course. Yup, wine and coffee do not dehydrate you. So you can stop carrying around that water bottle. Just listen to your body, not your mother. Drink water when you’re thirsty.

Here’s the thing: Garamond actually is a readable font. Test it for yourself. You’ll see.