Create an Italian Renaissance Inspired Design Using The Palatino Font
Considered as one of the 10 most used serifs, the Palatino font has cemented itself in the publishing and digital worlds. Released around 1949 first by the Stempel foundry and then later, by the Linotype foundry, it has found itself in many uses: from billboard ads, book texts, to Apple computers. Where could Palatino be off to next?
How Palatino Began
Created by Hermann Zapf based on his own neat calligraphy, Palatino was influenced by Italian Renaissance letter forms that were used during the 15th and 16th centuries. The font was named after Italian master calligrapher Giovanni Battista Palatino, also called Giambattista.
When Stempel released the font, it was among a group of typefaces that includes Sistina, Michaelangelo Titling, and Aldus. When Linotype got a hold of the typeface, they licensed it to Apple and Adobe, companies that would incorporate Palatino into the PostScript digital printing technology. This is the reason why you can see a version of it on many Adobe and Apple apps.
Palatino Pairings and Characteristics
Designed with larger proportions and solid structures, Palatino is great for commercial purposes such as ads, headings, and display printing. However, it was extensively used as book text during its early years. When it became available in modern computers, it was also used for digital publishing. This is all thanks to its shorter ascenders and descenders, making it more legible than other typefaces.
As an old-style serif, you can pair it beautifully with sans serifs like Theinhardt or Gill Sans. But don’t shy away from experimenting with similar serifs such as Libre Baskerville and Courier.
Dignified Palatino Font
You should be able to see at least one variant of Palatino on a few of the pre-installed apps on your computer or laptop. If not, you can go online and purchase an individual style, or the entire font family. You can find the full font bundle at My Fonts. For the free version, check out Free Fonts Family.