Colophon Foundry

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Hey!, Bee, See?, The, He, Effed, Gee,

Raisonné is a geometric sans-serif type initially designed in and around the summer of 2010 and subsequently expanded upon, first in 2012 and again in 2018–19. After several years of internal and external customisations, assorted expansion inquiries, and miscellaneous bouts of sketching, its original single weight—DemiBold—is now complemented by Light, Book, Regular, Bold, ExtraBold, and Poster weights in tandem with corresponding obliques and an expanded character set.

Raisonné was initially conceived as a single font, replete with idiosyncracies, that would comprise the written portions of a comprehensive catalogue raisonné: an output required of each Graphic Design MFA candidate at the Yale School of Art. The typeface is parodic-serious, intended to be blunt, candid, and affable all at the same time. It outwardly pays homage to noteworthy precedents, among them Rudolf Koch’s Kabel (1927) & Victor Caruso’s later redrawing for ITC (1976), Joseph Churchward’s Crossbred (1970s), Paul Renner’s Futura (also 1927), and Herb Lubalin’s Avant Garde (1968).

Raisonné is available in seven weights (Light, Book, Regular, DemiBold, Bold, ExtraBold, and Poster) with corresponding obliques. It is licensed in both Standard (‘STD’) and Professional (‘PRO’) versions. The latter contains additional Latin language support, a multitude of stylistic alternates, and several supplementary marks and symbols.

Release
2010

Extended I
2012

Extended II
2018

Extended III
2019

Current Version
3.002

Designer
Benjamin Critton & Colophon Foundry

Specimen
Raisonné

A catalogue RAISONNÉ is a comprehensive, annotated listing of all the known artworks by an artist either in a particular medium or all media. The term Catalogue RAISONNÉ is French, meaning ‘reasoned catalogue’ (i.e. containing arguments for the information given), but is part of the technical terminology of the English-speaking art world. The spelling is never Americanized to ‘catalog’, even in the United States. The French pluralization ‘Catalogues RAISONNÉS’ is used.



A-B–C—D
Naïve
Geometries.
1—2–3-4
Raison
Forevermore.



Double-you, Ex,
Why, & Zzƶ.
+44 (0)20 3095 9782