A curated list of digital specimens
of the highest quality. Updated daily.
F37 Caslon
This specimen for F37 Caslon from foundry f37 strikes the right balance between form and function. Opening with extremely large type designed to show of the design features of the glyphs, the specimen is one of only a handful available that demonstrate the type working in comparative paragraph settings.
Gramatika
A novel design for the specimen for Gramatika, a custom typeface project for V-A-C Foundation. A notable, fantastic addition is the typesetting guide. Unfortunately, it's a PDF. it would be great to turn that content into a valuable microsite, I'm sure.
PolySans
Big. Simple. Straight to the point. The defining characteristic of this specimen is scale. It fills the available screen space from one corner to the other.
Halunke Regular
Type Today's Tomorrow (!) specimens are great. Thoughtfully designed, leading with a type tester with a couple of controls, and just enough 'type in use' graphics to support the design rationale for the typeface. This specimen for Halunke Regular works well in this format.
Gestures
A single typetester punctuated with animations, audio (which was a surprise), and exciting – and unextected – punctuations leading to a a specimen you experience rather than use.
산돌구름
What struck me about this simple specimen – even though I can't read it – were the informative illustrations, and introductory animation style.
Lift Type
A good looking specimen featured stacked SVG graphic panels with an intermingled type tester. On the face of it, serious stuff, until you notice the running Maradona figure...
Carta Nueva
The really interesting part of this specimen is at the end of the page. Long-form descriptions of the font features and design details underpin a really useful format.
Swear
I really like this specimen format from OH no Type Company. As we increasingly see in digital specimens, there are vertically stacked type testers each set in default weights with varying content lengths. A subtle combination of old and new.