Minuscule was inspired by Émile Javal’s research into the physiology of reading. He was a 19th-century opthalmologist, the first to analyze how we read.

Minuscule characteristics are large x-height, robust slab serifs, vertical stress, open structure, big counters, low contrast.

Minuscule is a typeface for extremely small sizes, and can be used under the commonly acknowledged threshold of legibility (around 7 points). At this stage, the loss is so important during the shift to a lower size that I quickly decided to design a master for each size. Five versions have been developed, optimized for a use in 6 (Minuscule Six), 5 (Minuscule Cinq), 4 (Minuscule Quatre), 3 (Minuscule Trois) and 2 pts (Minuscule Deux).

Minuscule received the Certificate of Excellence in Type Design from the Type Directors Club New York, in the TDC2 2005 Type Design Competition (category Text).


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Tags: efficient, ink traps, large eye, legible, news, ocr, optical sizes, readability, scientific, serif, slab serif, small sizes, specialized, text, unusual