Archer is a

slab serif In typography, a slab serif (also called ''mechanistic'', ''square serif'', ''antique'' or ''Egyptian'') typeface is a type of serif typeface characterized by thick, block-like serifs. Serif terminals may be either blunt and angular ( Rockwell), ...

typeface designed in 2001 by

Tobias Frere-Jones Tobias Frere-Jones (born Tobias Edgar Mallory Jones; August 28, 1970) is an American type designer who works in New York City. He operates the company Frere-Jones Type and teaches typeface design at the Yale School of Art MFA program. Among his ty ...

and

Jonathan Hoefler Jonathan Hoefler (; born August 22, 1970) is an American typeface designer. Hoefler founded the Hoefler Type Foundry in 1989, a type foundry in New York. Early life Jonathan Hoefler was born on August 22, 1970, in New York City to Doreen Ben ...

for use in ''

Martha Stewart Living ''Martha Stewart Living'' is a magazine and former television program Television, sometimes shortened to TV, is a telecommunication medium for transmitting moving images and sound. The term can refer to a television set, or the medium of ...

'' magazine. It was later released by

Hoefler & Frere-Jones Hoefler&Co. (H&Co) is a digital type foundry (font design studio) in Woburn, Massachusetts (formerly New York City), founded by type designer Jonathan Hoefler. H&Co designs typefaces for clients and for retail on its website. The company was foun ...

for commercial licensing.

Structure

The typeface is a geometric slab serif, one with a geometric design similar to sans-serif fonts. It takes inspiration from mid-twentieth century designs such as Rockwell. The face is unique for combining the geometric structure of twentieth-century European slab-serifs but imbuing the face with a domestic, less strident tone of voice. Balls were added to the upper terminals on letters such as ''C'' and ''G'' to increase its charm.

Italics In typography, italic type is a cursive font based on a stylised form of calligraphic handwriting. Owing to the influence from calligraphy, italics normally slant slightly to the right. Italics are a way to emphasise key points in a printed ...

are true italic designs, with flourishes influenced by calligraphy, an unusual feature for geometric slab serif designs. As with many

designs, it was released in a wide range of weights from hairline to bold, reflecting its design goal as a typeface for complex magazines.

Uses

The typeface has been used for, among other things, branding for

Wells Fargo Wells Fargo & Company is an American multinational financial services company with corporate headquarters in San Francisco, California; operational headquarters in Manhattan; and managerial offices throughout the United States and intern ...

and is a main font for the ''

San Francisco Chronicle The ''San Francisco Chronicle'' is a newspaper serving primarily the San Francisco Bay Area of Northern California. It was founded in 1865 as ''The Daily Dramatic Chronicle'' by teenage brothers Charles de Young and M. H. de Young, Michael H. de ...

'' and

Wes Anderson Wesley Wales Anderson (born May 1, 1969) is an American filmmaker. His films are known for their eccentricity and unique visual and narrative styles. They often contain themes of grief, loss of innocence, and dysfunctional families. Cited by so ...

's film ''

The Grand Budapest Hotel ''The Grand Budapest Hotel'' is a 2014 comedy-drama film written and directed by Wes Anderson. Ralph Fiennes leads a seventeen-actor ensemble cast as Monsieur Gustave H., famed concierge of a twentieth-century mountainside resort in the fiction ...

''.

References

External links

Archer
(H&FJ website) Hoefler & Frere-Jones typefaces Typefaces designed by Tobias Frere-Jones Typefaces designed by Jonathan Hoefler Typefaces and fonts introduced in 2001 Digital typefaces Typefaces with text figures Geometric slab-serif typefaces {{typography-stub