Doves Type Imprint
Typespec · Robert Green · 2016
A painstakingly researched revival of the Doves Press typeface, drawing directly on 151 metal sorts recovered from the River Thames.
About
Robert Green spent over a decade refining his digital reconstruction of the Doves Type, ultimately recovering original metal sorts from the Thames riverbed in 2014 to use as primary source material. The fourth version splits into two optically adjusted cuts: Doves Text, heavier and softer for body copy below 20pt, and Doves Headline, lighter and sharper for display use, the latter originating from a commission by the Thames Tideway infrastructure project. Extended glyph coverage includes small caps and both lining and tabular figures, with spacing adjusted throughout for contemporary print and screen applications.
Classification
The Doves Type is a revival of the historic Doves Press typeface, itself derived from a late 15th-century Venetian model by Nicolas Jenson, placing it firmly in the humanist serif tradition.