Medieval Leaves

Visual anatomy & craft review

Letterform structure
of Medieval Leaves.

The design is built around single letters rather than a paragraph: a large A stands inside an orange square where acanthus leaves and curling tendrils are drawn in a lighter tone behind the letter, and five smaller blocks carry B, C, D, E and F in a teal, a red, an olive and two more orange grounds, each with its own crop of foliage. The letters themselves are a sturdy serif with sharp wedge serifs and a moderate contrast, drawn to hold their own against the busy ground, and the squares are ruled with a hand-drawn border rather than a mechanical one. Below the blocks a line of the family is set in a medieval-flavoured serif with small leaves growing from the serifs, which shows how the capitals behave in text. The palette is a warm cream page with four ink colours. Medieval Leaves is a decorative set for drop caps, book covers, labels and seasonal cards, and it works best as one or two capitals rather than as a full line.

Illuminated, botanical, woodcut