Cartier Book

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A sample of Cartier Book.
A sample of Cartier Book.

Cartier Roman and Cartier Book are serif old style typefaces designed by Carl Dair in 1967, who was commissioned by the Canadian Government to create a new and distinctively Canadian typeface. The first proof of Cartier (in Roman and Italic faces) was published as "the first Canadian type for text composition" to mark the centenary of Canadian Confederation.

This typeface was later redesigned by Toronto-based typographer Rod McDonald in a digital format. McDonald's "Cartier Family" removed inconsistencies in the baseline weight, and streamlining the stroke angles to enforce a strong horizontal flow. His work was a form of homage to the validity of Dair's original design, which later was unfortunately plagued with weight, stroke and grid issues due to Dair's insisting that Mergenthaler Linotype's drawing office not refine the face but instead rely only on his personal sketches.