Monotype Introduces the Quire Sans Typeface, an Intuitive Blend of Old and New

Jim Ford’s Newest Creation is a Culmination of 10 Years of Type Design and Exploration

The Quire Sans typeface is the newest design by Jim Ford of the Monotype Studio. The family of 20 fonts is a design for all media, from branding, advertising and packaging to displays, user interfaces, billboards, signage and environmental graphics. (Photo: Business Wire)

WOBURN, Mass.--()--Inspired by a history of typographic development and crafted for today’s digital landscape, the Quire Sans™ typeface is the newest design from Monotype Imaging Holdings Inc. (Nasdaq: TYPE), a leading provider of typefaces, technology and expertise for creative applications and consumer devices. Created by Monotype’s Jim Ford of the Monotype Studio, the family of 20 fonts is a design for all media, including branding, advertising and packaging to displays, user interfaces, billboards, signage and environmental graphics.

The name, Quire Sans, derives from the word, quire – a medieval printing term that can be traced back to the 15th century for a collection of printed leaves, folded and ready for manuscript binding.

“Quire Sans is what I call a typographic tour de force,” said Allan Haley, director of words and letters at Monotype. “The typeface forms are based on classic Roman lines and proportions with a slightly narrower proportion than many sans serif designs, so less space is required – making it eminently legible, large or small, on the page or on screen.”

Drawing on an experiment to create a sans serif typeface that could encompass all periods of type history, Ford looked to orchestrate the interplay between the rich typographic details of historic book publishing typefaces with the modern styling of designs for electronic media.

“Quire Sans is friendly or serious, or understated, sturdy and graceful, depending on the context,” said Ford, who has designed custom typefaces for agencies, publishers, software manufacturers and game developers. “I made a conscious effort throughout to maintain a ‘friendliness’ in every shape, ensuring a ‘personal signature’ and character in every letter, bridging the gap between traditional printing and publishing faces, and those typefaces designed for on-screen viewing.”

Availability

The Quire Sans typeface family is comprised of 10 weights ranging from thin to fat, in regular proportions and with true italics, providing options to establish color and contrast in a range of settings. The family is available as OpenType® Pro fonts, which provide for the ability to easily insert typographic features, including small caps, fractions and alternate glyphs, as well as a range of ‘f’ ligatures and pilcrow and fleuron symbols, unique to Quire Sans. OpenType Pro fonts also offer an extended character set to support most Central European and many Eastern European languages. The Quire Sans typeface may be licensed as either desktop fonts or Web fonts from MyFonts, Fonts.com or Linotype.com. All subscribers to Fonts.com Web Fonts paid plans have access to the new fonts as Web fonts, while Pro, Master and desktop add-on subscribers can also use the family as desktop fonts as part of their subscription.

An introductory $99.00 promotion is available through Aug. 8, 2014 when licensing the entire Quire Sans family of desktop fonts from www.myfonts.com, www.fonts.com or www.linotype.com.

About the Monotype Libraries

The Monotype® Libraries feature the typeface collections from individual, historical libraries, including Monotype, Linotype, Ascender, ITC and Bitstream. With over 19,000 typeface designs supporting more than 250 Latin and non-Latin languages, the Monotype Libraries represent one of the world’s largest, trusted and continuously expanding inventories of typefaces, offering a rich blend of timeless classics and innovative designs.

About Monotype

Monotype is a leading global provider of typefaces, technology and expertise that enable the best user experience and ensure brand integrity. Headquartered in Woburn, Mass., Monotype provides customers worldwide with typeface solutions for a broad range of creative applications and consumer devices. The company’s libraries and e-commerce sites are home to many of the most widely used typefaces – including the Helvetica®, Frutiger® and Univers® families – as well as the next generation of type designs. Further information is available at www.monotype.com. Follow Monotype on Twitter, Instagram, LinkedIn and Monotype’s Type Case blog.

Monotype, Helvetica and Frutiger are trademarks of Monotype Imaging Inc. registered in the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office and may be registered in certain jurisdictions. Univers is a trademark of Monotype GmbH registered in the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office and may be registered in certain jurisdictions. Quire Sans is a trademark of Monotype Imaging Inc. OpenType is either a registered trademark or trademark of Microsoft Corp. in the U.S. and/or other countries. All other trademarks are the property of their respective owners. ©2014 Monotype Imaging Holdings Inc. All rights reserved.

Contacts

Monotype
Vikki Quick, 781-970-6115
vikki.quick@monotype.com
or
Propeller Group for Monotype
Hilary Gray, 44 (0) 20 3301 5347
hilary.gray@propellergroup.com
or
Maisberger for Monotype
Christine Wildgruber, 49 (0) 89 / 41 95 99 27
monotype@maisberger.com

Release Summary

The Quire Sans typeface is the newest design from Monotype (Nasdaq: TYPE). Created by Jim Ford of the Monotype Studio, the family of 20 fonts is a design for all media.

Contacts

Monotype
Vikki Quick, 781-970-6115
vikki.quick@monotype.com
or
Propeller Group for Monotype
Hilary Gray, 44 (0) 20 3301 5347
hilary.gray@propellergroup.com
or
Maisberger for Monotype
Christine Wildgruber, 49 (0) 89 / 41 95 99 27
monotype@maisberger.com