ITC Exlibris
ITC Exlibris is a unique square serif face, offering a sensitive melding of sturdy proportions and flowing calligraphic curves. With the strength of Rockwell and the beauty of Palatino, Exlibris is striking at large sizes and eloquent in text copy.
Bo Berndal, Exlibris’ designer, started his career in the composing room during World War II and went on to become one of Sweden’s most important and prolific type designers. After his first job as a Linotype machine operator, Berndal graduated to type designer and font pattern maker – not to mention book designer, magazine art director, author, and educator.
The three weights of Exlibris make for a remarkably versatile typeface family. Square serifs give the basic roman design a direct and confident demeanor, perfect for text copy. Strong calligraphic overtones lend a feeling of elegance, and a distinctive personality is expressed in the stylized lowercase ‘g,’ curved diagonals of the ‘v,’ ‘w,’ and ‘y,’ and open bowls in the ‘b,’ ‘d,’ and ‘p.'
Exlibris Italic shares the roman’s distinctive character traits but is slightly condensed, a perfect counterpoint to highlight words and phrases in text copy. Exlibris Bold is the powerhouse of the family, and makes an authoritative statement in both text and display sizes.
Berndal has designed many typefaces for some of the world’s most important type foundries. Exlibris is his first ITC release, and is now available as a powerful suite of OpenType fonts.