Iowan Old Style

Iowan Old Style
CategorySerif
ClassificationOld-style
Designer(s)John Downer
FoundryBitstream

Iowan Old Style is a digital serif typeface designed by John Downer and released by Bitstream in 1991.[1]

Iowan Old Style is inspired by serif typefaces from Renaissance Italy, now called the “old-style” or Venetian model of typeface design, with influence from Downer’s work as hand-painter of signs.[2][3][4]

Compared to the historical models it is based on, Iowan has a higher x-height, meaning that the lower-case letters are taller and appear larger and wider, producing a design that is suitable for display and on-screen use.[5] It is used as a default font on the Apple Books application and is included as a system font on iOS and macOS.[6][7]

  1. ^ Cite error: The named reference IOS Berry was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  2. ^ Butterick, Matthew. "Iowan Old Style". Typography for Lawyers. Archived from the original on January 16, 2015. Retrieved 2 August 2015.
  3. ^ Hoefler, Jonathan. "John Downer at The Propagandist". Hoefler & Frere-Jones. Retrieved 21 January 2016.
  4. ^ Johnston, Alastair. "Alastair Johnston interviews John Downer" (PDF). Alastair Johnston. Archived from the original (PDF) on 20 December 2016. Retrieved 21 February 2016.
  5. ^ "Iowan Old Style". Identifont. Retrieved 2 August 2015.
  6. ^ Coles, Stephen. "Apple iBooks 1.5". Fonts In Use. Retrieved 21 January 2016.
  7. ^ Berry, John. "Text on the pages of iBooks". Easily Amused. Retrieved 21 January 2016.