Cartier is a family of serif old style

typefaces A typeface (or font family) is the design of lettering that can include variations in size, weight (e.g. bold), slope (e.g. italic), width (e.g. condensed), and so on. Each of these variations of the typeface is a font. There are thousands o ...

designed in 1967 by

Carl Dair Harris Carleton Dair (February 14, 1912 – September 28, 1967), known as Carl Dair, was a Canadian graphic designer, teacher, type designer, and author. Primarily a self-taught designer, Dair was internationally known and developed visual design pr ...

, who was commissioned by the

Governor General of Canada The governor general of Canada (french: gouverneure générale du Canada) is the federal viceregal representative of the . The is head of state of Canada and the 14 other Commonwealth realms, but resides in oldest and most populous realm, ...

- in-Council to create a new and distinctively Canadian

typeface A typeface (or font family) is the design of lettering that can include variations in size, weight (e.g. bold), slope (e.g. italic), width (e.g. condensed), and so on. Each of these variations of the typeface is a font. There are thousands ...

. The first proof of Cartier (in Roman and Italic faces) was published as "the first

Canadian Canadians (french: Canadiens) are people identified with the country of Canada. This connection may be residential, legal, historical or cultural. For most Canadians, many (or all) of these connections exist and are collectively the source of ...

type for text composition" to mark the centenary of Canadian Confederation. In 1977 a revival of Cartier was produced under the name ''Raleigh'' by Robert Norton. This typeface was later redesigned by Canadian

typographer Typography is the art and technique of arranging type to make written language legible, readable and appealing when displayed. The arrangement of type involves selecting typefaces, point sizes, line lengths, line-spacing (leading), and ...

Rod McDonald in a

digital format Digital data, in information theory and information systems, is information represented as a string of discrete symbols each of which can take on one of only a finite number of values from some alphabet, such as letters or digit (unit), digits. ...

. McDonald's Cartier family removed inconsistencies in the baseline weight, and streamlined the stroke angles to enforce a strong horizontal flow. His work was a form of homage to the validity of Dair's original design, which was incomplete and plagued with weight, stroke, and grid issues because Dair insisted that the type foundry not refine the face.Sara Curtis, "Rod McDonald and Carl Dair", ''Applied Arts'' (November/December 1999). Retrieved August 25, 2013.
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References

Government typefaces Old style serif typefaces Canadian Centennial Photocomposition typefaces Digital typefaces Typefaces and fonts introduced in 1967 {{Typ-stub