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Type specimen & identity
Kern & Co.
A printed specimen and identity for an independent type foundry that wanted its letters to do the talking.
Identity
Editorial
Client
Kern & Co. Type Foundry
Year
2025
Role
Designer & art director
01 — Overview
Letting the typefaces lead.
Kern & Co. publishes a handful of carefully drawn typefaces each year. Their old specimen was a PDF nobody kept; they wanted something designers would leave on their desks.
The project paired a modest identity with an ambitious printed specimen.
Deliverables
Type specimen book
Foundry identity
Website art direction
02 — Challenge
Making a catalogue feel collectable.
Specimens tend to be either dry lists of glyphs or overdesigned showpieces. We needed a format that showed each family honestly while still being a pleasure to page through.
Early layout tests
Reference: wood type archive
03 — Approach
Each typeface got its own chapter, with layouts written around the personality of the letters rather than a fixed grid.
Study the families
Set every typeface at display and text sizes to understand where each one shines.
Write with type
Short texts commissioned for each family so the specimen reads like a book, not a list.
Print & proof
Three proof rounds on uncoated stock to tune ink density and paper weight.
04 — Solution
A specimen people keep.
A 96-page book, an identity built from the foundry’s own flagship face, and art direction carried through to their site.
05 — Results
The specimen became the foundry’s calling card — handed out at talks, mailed to studios and kept on desks rather than filed away. Its art direction now carries through to the foundry’s website and every new release.
96
pages across six type families
3
proof rounds to tune ink and paper
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