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Cardinal Fruit

Specimen

The Two Faces Of Tomorrow Durdane Schlieren Photography Untenantable U.S. Department Of Commerce Catalina
During a meticulous system check, Synth uncovered a critical flaw in the Cardinal’s propulsion system: a hairline fracture in the antimatter containment field. Without immediate action, the ship risked a catastrophic failure that could end the mission and lives.
During a meticulous system check, Synth uncovered a critical flaw in the Cardinal’s propulsion system: a hairline fracture in the antimatter containment field. Without immediate action, the ship risked a catastrophic failure that could end the mission and lives.
During a meticulous system check, Synth uncovered a critical flaw in the Cardinal’s propulsion system: a hairline fracture in the antimatter containment field. Without immediate action, the ship risked a catastrophic failure that could end the mission and lives.
350,000 OF MILES Frankenstein Complex 1634: BATTLE ANGEL The Wailing Asteroid INHERIT THE EARTH Suzette Haden Elgin Time Held Me Green CHAOS’S PATTERNS Farnham’s Freehold
Bureau Of Investigative Journalism 4.2 Unidentified Flying Objects Surabaja U.S. Department Of Commerce Catalina
During a meticulous system check, Synth uncovered a critical flaw in the Cardinal’s propulsion system: a hairline fracture in the antimatter containment field. Without immediate action, the ship risked a catastrophic failure that could end the mission and lives.
During a meticulous system check, Synth uncovered a critical flaw in the Cardinal’s propulsion system: a hairline fracture in the antimatter containment field. Without immediate action, the ship risked a catastrophic failure that could end the mission and lives.
During a meticulous system check, Synth uncovered a critical flaw in the Cardinal’s propulsion system: a hairline fracture in the antimatter containment field. Without immediate action, the ship risked a catastrophic failure that could end the mission and lives.
Crimson Kings HONOUR Eternity Roads FICTIONAL Rings Of Saturn POLITICS

Information

Design

Jean-Baptiste Levée

Team

Yoann Minet
Quentin Schmerber
Hugues Gentile
Arthur Schwarz
Dorine Sauzet
Suehli Tan
Igino Marini

Version

2.001

About this font

Synthetic organisms look human, yet are made of artificial materials. Cardinal is the equivalent of the androïd characters called “synthetics”, which were developed in the movie series Alien. Synthetics entertain a close relationship with the living world and have a troubling resemblance with the models they imitate — humans. Androïds do not emit heat, smell or pheromones, and their synthetic origin is thus hard to detect. Cardinal is an exploration of that idea in type design. It navigates between the organicity of classic text typefaces and the plasticity of contemporary digital type. It has some traits of designs by Garamont and Granjon but bears its own dryness and rigidity. Reminiscent of an era of “old digital typefaces”, Cardinal evokes the early computing days. Synthetics do not die, they are just sometimes deactivated.
The Cardinal system is developed in three distinct directions. First, the core styles are Cardinal Classic Short, Mid, and Long, which have three x-heights that can be adjusted depending on body copy point size and line length. We recommend using Cardinal Classic Long for titles and subheads or brief paragraphs of text. Cardinal Classic Mid fits standard body text sizes, and Cardinal Classic Short works well at small sizes. Second, Cardinal Fruit is a very specific flavor of condensed, recalling early computer advertisements. Its Italics are particularly sharp and will convey a sense of liveliness and accuracy.
Designed for large, bold headlines, Cardinal Photo is a member of the Cardinal Collection. It is derived from the Cardinal Classic Mid series, only with more dramatic contrast, and tight, oh-so-tight spacing.
The idea behind Cardinal Photo sprung from photojournalism magazines and their typography, where headlines splash all over the page, with shallow linespacing. High contrast images and high contrast type were MFEO (made for each other.) Cardinal Photo is a natural matchmaker, referencing phototypesetting just like its sibling, Cardinal Fruit, references 80s typography. “Photo”—as in photojournalism and phototypesetting—are both concepts that translate well to digital design, where long headlines are consumed in big bites.
Why wouldn’t someone just tighten the spacing manually? Well, Cardinal has this TNT (tight but not touching) idea built-in, where the shapes closing in are meticulously placed, and already kerned for you, giving you all the credit for that tight-tight-tight design—achieving compactness without crude compression, that typographical equivalent of a car crash. Cardinal is tight so that you can stay creatively loose. Headlines, slogans, eye-catching clickbait: you name it. Cardinal is here for big things.
Full support for Cyrillic in Cardinal Photo ExtraLight, ExtraLight Italic, Light, and Light Italic are coming soon.

Formats

Static (OTF, TTF, WOFF, WOFF2)

Language support

Abaza, Acheron, Achinese, Acholi, Adyghe, Afar, Afrikaans, Aghul, Ahtna, Alekano, Aleut, Amahuaca, Amarakaeri, Amis, Anaang, Andaandi, Dongolawi, Andi, Anuta, Ao Naga, Aragonese, Arbëreshë Albanian, Archi, Arvanitika Albanian, Asháninka, Ashéninka Perené, Asu (Tanzania), Atayal, Avaric, Balinese, Bari, Bashkir, Basque, Batak Dairi, Batak Karo, Batak Mandailing, Batak Simalungun, Batak Toba, Belarusian, Bemba (Zambia), Bena (Tanzania), Bezhta, Bikol, Bislama, Borana-Arsi-Guji Oromo, Bosnian, Breton, Budukh, Buginese, Candoshi-Shapra, Caquinte, Caribbean Hindustani, Cashibo-Cacataibo, Catalan, Cebuano, Central Aymara, Central Kurdish, Chamalal, Chamorro, Chavacano, Chechen, Chiga, Chiltepec Chinantec, Chinese Buriat, Chokwe, Chuukese, Chuvash, Cimbrian, Cofán, Congo Swahili, Cook Islands Māori, Cornish, Corsican, Creek, Crimean Tatar, Crimean Tatar, Croatian, Czech, Danish, Dargwa, Dehu, Dido, Dungan, Dutch, Eastern Arrernte, Eastern Oromo, Embu, English, Erzya, Ese Ejja, Faroese, Fijian, Filipino, Finnish, French, Friulian, Gagauz, Galician, Ganda, Garifuna, Ga’anda, German, Gheg Albanian, Gilbertese, Gooniyandi, Gourmanchéma, Guadeloupean Creole French, Gusii, Haitian, Halh Mongolian, Hani, Hiligaynon, Ho-Chunk, Hopi, Huastec, Hungarian, Icelandic, Iloko, Inari Sami, Indonesian, Ingush, Irish, Istro Romanian, Italian, Ixcatlán Mazatec, Jamaican Creole English, Japanese, Javanese, Jola-Fonyi, Judeo-Tat, K'iche', Kabardian, Kabuverdianu, Kala Lagaw Ya, Kalaallisut, Kalenjin, Kalmyk, Kamba (Kenya), Kaonde, Kaqchikel, Karachay-Balkar, Karelian, Kashubian, Kazakh, Kekchí, Kenzi, Mattokki, Khasi, Khinalugh, Kikuyu, Kimbundu, Kinyarwanda, Kirghiz, Kituba (DRC), Komi-Permyak, Komi-Zyrian, Kongo, Konzo, Kuanyama, Kumyk, Kven Finnish, Kölsch, Ladin, Ladino, Lak, Latgalian, Lezghian, Ligurian, Lithuanian, Lombard, Low German, Lower Sorbian, Lozi, Luba-Lulua, Lule Sami, Luo (Kenya and Tanzania), Luxembourgish, Macedo-Romanian, Macedonian, Makhuwa, Makhuwa-Meetto, Makonde, Makwe, Malagasy, Malaysian, Maltese, Mandinka, Mandjak, Mankanya, Manx, Maore Comorian, Maori, Mapudungun, Matsés, Mauritian Creole, Meriam Mir, Meru, Minangkabau, Mirandese, Mohawk, Moksha, Mongolian Buriat, Montenegrin, Montenegrin, Munsee, Murrinh-Patha, Muslim Tat, Muslim Tat, Mwani, Mískito, Naga Pidgin, Ndonga, Neapolitan, Ngazidja Comorian, Niuean, Nobiin, Nogai, Nomatsiguenga, North Azerbaijani, North Azerbaijani, North Ndebele, Northern Kurdish, Northern Qiandong Miao, Northern Sami, Northern Uzbek, Norwegian, Nyanja, Nyankole, Occitan, Ojitlán Chinantec, Orma, Oroqen, Otuho, Palauan, Paluan, Pampanga, Papantla Totonac, Papiamento, Pedi, Picard, Pichis Ashéninka, Piemontese, Pijin, Pintupi-Luritja, Pipil, Pite Sami, Pohnpeian, Polish, Portuguese, Potawatomi, Purepecha, Quechua, Romanian, Romansh, Rotokas, Rundi, Russian, Russian Buriat, Rusyn, Rutul, Rwa, Samburu, Samoan, Sango, Sangu (Tanzania), Saramaccan, Sardinian, Scottish Gaelic, Sena, Serbian, Serbian, Seri, Seselwa Creole French, Shambala, Shawnee, Shipibo-Conibo, Shona, Shughni, Sicilian, Silesian, Slovak, Slovenian, Soga, Somali, Soninke, South Azerbaijani, South Ndebele, Southern Aymara, Southern Qiandong Miao, Southern Sami, Southern Sotho, Spanish, Sranan Tongo, Standard Estonian, Standard Latvian, Standard Malay, Sundanese, Swahili, Swati, Swedish, Swiss German, Tabassaran, Tagalog, Tahitian, Taita, Tajik, Talysh, Tatar, Tedim Chin, Tetum, Tetun Dili, Tiv, Tok Pisin, Tokelau, Tonga (Tonga Islands), Tonga (Zambia), Tosk Albanian, Tsakhur, Tsakhur, Tsonga, Tswana, Tumbuka, Turkish, Turkmen, Tuvinian, Tzeltal, Tzotzil, Uab Meto, Udi, Ukrainian, Ume Sami, Upper Guinea Crioulo, Upper Sorbian, Venetian, Veps, Võro, Walloon, Walser, Wangaaybuwan-Ngiyambaa, Waray (Philippines), Warlpiri, Wayuu, Welsh, West Central Oromo, Western Abnaki, Western Frisian, Wik-Mungkan, Wiradjuri, Wolof, Xhosa, Yanesha', Yao, Yapese, Yindjibarndi, Yucateco, Zapotec, Zulu, Zuni, Záparo

About the designers

  • Jean-Baptiste Levée is a type designer with a strong focus on corporate and bespoke typefaces.

    Jean-Baptiste Levée

    CEO, founder

    Jean-Baptiste Levée (1981) has designed over a hundred typefaces for industry, moving pictures, fashion and media. He is the founder of the independent foundry Production Type.

Glyphs

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OpenType Features

Production Type ships OpenType fonts with built-in features such as ligatures, alternates, or pictograms. Here are some of the most important features. To view a comprehensive list of features, please refer to the PDF specimen.

Case-Sensitive Forms

[CASE-SENSITIVE] !¡?¿-–—()[]{}‹›«»· ­

off

Standard Ligatures

fichier flicker affliger ­

off

Discretionary Ligatures

Thesaurus ­

off

Historical Forms

History ­

off

Slashed Zero

0123456789 ­

off

Lining Figures

H0123456789 ­

off

Proportional Figures

H0123456789 ­

off

Oldstyle Figures

H0123456789 ­

off

Tabular Figures

H0123456789 ­

off

Superscript

H012345679 ­

off

Scientific Inferiors

H012345679 ­

off

Denominators

H012345679 ­

off

Numerators

H012345679 ­

off

Fractions

1/4 1/2 3/4 ­

off

Ordinals

2a 2o No. ­

off

Ornaments

+ − ± × ÷ = < > ­

off

Stylistic Set 1

012345678910 ­

off

Stylistic Set 2

012345678910 ­

off

Stylistic Set 3

<>+−×÷=± ­

off

Stylistic Set 4

abcdef ­

off

Pair well with Cardinal Fruit

  • Cardinal Fruit Medium

    By 2050, 10,000 AI units coexist with humans, enhancing life.

    Cogito Black

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  • Cardinal Fruit Regular

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    PVC Banner Ultra

    Voyager 6 reaches the Andromeda Galaxy in 2175, launched in 2057.

  • Cardinal Fruit Italic

    By 2050, 10,000 AI units coexist with humans, enhancing life.

    Minotaur Bold

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Discover the Cardinal family

  • Cardinal Classic Short

    8 styles: Regular, Italic, Medium, Medium Italic, SemiBold, SemiBold Italic, Bold, Bold Italic

  • Cardinal Classic Mid

    8 styles: Regular, Italic, Medium, Medium Italic, SemiBold, SemiBold Italic, Bold, Bold Italic

  • Cardinal Classic Long

    8 styles: Regular, Italic, Medium, Medium Italic, SemiBold, SemiBold Italic, Bold, Bold Italic

  • Cardinal Photo

    12 styles: ExtraLight, ExtraLight Italic, Light, Light Italic, Regular, Italic, Medium, Medium Italic, SemiBold, SemiBold Italic, Bold, Bold Italic

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    Useful type with an edge.

    Useful type with an edge.

    Production Type provide retail as well as dedicated creative services in typeface design for brands.

    Based in Paris and Shanghai, Production Type is a digital type design agency. Its activities span from the exclusive online distribution of its retail type for design professionals, to the creation of custom typefaces for the industrial, luxury, and media sectors.
    Enquire about custom fonts