A research project into understanding digital type specimens and their role in evaluating typefaces.
A project about type specimens:
what they are; how they are used; and who makes them.
Type Specimens is a research & design project, a publication, and a community resource. Read more about the project, browse the list of curated specimens, or sign up for the weekly newsletter
THE SPECIMENS DIGEST
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Okaso
This is a cool variable font with a stretch axis. Seen quite often in Arabic, this has a quirky result when applied to Latin. But Okaso pulls it off. The specimen is a stack of type testers in simple colour palettes. But it really shows off the type's best features.
League Gothic
This specimen for League Gothic starts off looking like a Medium article. But then you realise that the title is a type tester (although just editable text with no controls). Scrolling down reveals a detailed – but notably not uniformly spaced – glyph set before getting to the detailed licensing information.
Boogy Brut
A lengthy and detailed specimen for Boogy Brut. A sort of waterfall meets type testers opens proceedings, but it's the illustrations and example designs further down the page that capture the imagination and possibilities.