Franco Stone
CAST · Lucas Franco · 2020
A flared sans-serif by Lucas Franco rooted in early Renaissance Florentine inscriptions, sharing lineage with Optima but leaning toward a sharper, more lapidary elegance.
About
Drawing on the same 15th-century Florentine letterforms that prompted Hermann Zapf to sketch Optima in 1950, Franco Stone pursues a thinner, more incisive interpretation of the carved letter. Capitals with deliberately varied proportions, perfect circular O and Q forms, and a wide set of discretionary and nested ligatures drawn from Romanesque inscriptions give the face a strong, irregular classical rhythm. Lowercase letters reference Renaissance calligraphic practice, with an f bearing a descending stroke and a q with an uppercase-style tail.
Classification
Franco Stone is a flared sans-serif with inscriptional roots in early Renaissance letterforms; its stems thicken toward terminals and curves approximate serifs without fully crossing into serif territory, placing it in the tradition of Optima rather than pure grotesque or humanist sans.