Jollivane

Visual anatomy & craft review

Letterform structure
of Jollivane.

The capital J is the tell: its stem bows outward as it descends, its foot curves back to the left instead of stopping in a serif, and the hook ends slightly above the baseline, which lets the following letter move in close. Every stem in the word carries a serif that is drawn as a small soft wedge rather than a crisp bracket, and the thin strokes are only slightly lighter than the thick ones, so contrast stays low and the word keeps an even colour on the page. The i and the j are topped with solid diamonds instead of dots, and those two shapes are the only closed counters above the x-height. Spacing is generous and the baseline lifts and settles a few points between letters, which gives the word its sign-written feel without breaking the line. Ends are cut blunt, never tapered. The dark green scene, the red banner and the small holly ornament are presentation; the typeface is the word.

Soft · Narrow · Festive