Although it has been a long time coming, it seems only natural that the comp.fonts FAQ should provide a brief summary of what the various type design firms are producing.
This description was constructed from postings by Don Hosek, Erik-Jan Vens, and David Lemon in Sep, 1993.
Carter & Cone Type Inc. 2155 Massachusetts Avenue Cambridge, MA 02140 617-576-0398 or 800-952-2129 617-354-4146 FAX
We begin with Carter & Cone not because I think they should be first, but because I already have a few articles about them (I probably saved the articles more because they were about Galliard, which I have a fondness for, than anything else). Please contribute summaries about other foundries (even the foundries themselves are encouraged to contribute, althought I'd appreciate it if the advertising overtones were kept to a dull roar ;-).
[Editors note: With appologies to C&C, I have the following snippet:
>> the designer. He's in business for himself now as half of Carter & >> Cone (800 952 2129 voice), and he's worked Galliard over yet again. >> Should be cool. Support your local type designer.
Which half of C&C does this refer to?]
Don Hosek says:
The specimen sheets arrived in the mail today (along with the newest Font & Function). Carter & Cone has three faces: ITC Galliard [CC] which is a family of 11 fonts. The bad news is that assignments of characters into expert sets and basic fonts is non-standard (the basic font is missing fi and fl). The good news is that the fonts are quite inexpensive. The whole set can be purchased for \$150. The font is a single weight only (if bold is strictly necessary, Bitstream Galliard Bold is consistent in height and can be mixed. On the other hand, designers need to learn to avoid the crutch of bold face on their pages). It is possible to purchase just those parts of the package which are needed. Those able to mix fonts on their own might be able to get a decent selection for less than \$150.
Don continues,
The second font is Sophia which is a kind of quirky all-caps display face. It features a number of upper case ligatures [!] and has a kind of Greek-Turkish feel to it (not suprising, really: the face is based in 6th c. Constantinople letterforms). When I first saw this, I didn't like it, but it does grow on one. The price on this is \$60.
Finally, Don concludes,
The third font is Mantinia which is a more traditional display roman with some interesting features: e.g., more uppercase ligatures and an alphabet with superior caps in place of lower case (the La of LaTeX could be typeset without kerns or raises using this alphabet). Again, this took some growing on one, but I'm more accepting of this (and can even imagine using it for real work). The price on this is \$60.