Category Serif Designer Rudolph Ruzicka | Classification Old style Date created 1940 | |
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Link linotype.com/420/fairfield-family.html Foundry Mergenthaler Linotype Company | ||
Fairfield is an old-style serif typeface designed by Rudolf Ruzicka as a text font. Released in 1940, its design is rooted in the forms of Venetian Old Face types. Fairfield Medium was released in 1947.
Ruzicka on the typeface: “The limitations accepted were those tending to the greatest economy of means, rather than those supposedly inherent in the machine. For this reason ligatures (which only add to the number of characters) were confined to the f combinations required by usage. The lowercase f’s, both roman and italic, fit not only all the characters, but even themselves – the twenty six leaden soldiers could fight their battles untied yet in accord.”
Digital Versions
Commercial versions are available as Adobe Fairfield LT Std and Bitstream Transitional 551. The Adobe designer Alex Kaczun has redone and expanded upon the original Linotype face with bold and heavy weights plus small capitals and old style figures. Fanwood is an open-source version from Barry Schwartz, including Fanwood Text designed specifically for digital screens.