Canopy
Approximate Type · 2018
A single-weight ornamental display face commissioned for a Symbolist art exhibition at the National Gallery of Denmark in 2018, drawing on fin-de-siècle lettering traditions.
About
Designed for the exhibition Hieroglyphs – Symbolist Drawings 1890-1910 at the National Gallery of Denmark, the typeface takes loose inspiration from the cover lettering of Praktisk Tegnekursus (1900), a drawing manual popular among Symbolist artists of the period. Flair is built into every letterform, with stylistic alternates, ornamental ligatures and oldstyle figures extending the expressive range of an otherwise single-weight family. The result suits editorial and cultural contexts where the mood of late nineteenth-century mysticism and natural symbolism is deliberately invoked.
Classification
A single-weight display typeface with heavy ornamentation and stylistic flair, explicitly described as such by the foundry and designed for a specific exhibition context rather than continuous text use.