These perform well at scale, allowing a designer to exaggerate. When blown up, the coarseness of the faceting—the straight lines that ultimately make up the curves—becomes apparent, giving a texture at once classic and crisply modern, without being sterile or mono linear. One could imagine a bold poster, an arts event, or even shop windows, where the oversized Lombardic capital calls to its viewers from a distance, drawing them in.
When the letters are shrunk back down, the curves overtake the straight lines once again, creating a roughness that stops short of severity. In these contexts, Minotaur’s Lombardic capitals are great for short titling in print or on screen. There’s a literary quality one could ascribe to these letters, and they’re an obvious choice for drop- and initial caps, page openers, and other classic uses for ornamented capitals.
Minotaur’s Lombardic capitals pair perfectly, of course, with other styles in the typeface’s growing family. Where the capital can become a chance for expression, other styles can serve other, more pragmatic needs. This chance to design work with complex hierarchy is emblematic of bold branding campaigns.
Buy Minotaur Lombardic from €70
Buy the companion publication “Béziers, Hershey & Lombardics: Minotaur Typeface”
Download the PDF specimen
