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Locating and licensing Chelmsford
Posted by marcox in
12 May 2009 — 5:26pm
12 May 2009 — 5:26pm
I'm trying to track down and license a font called Chelmsford. It's influenced by/derived/ripped-off from Optima, but comes in a very light weight and has a few added touches -- an Optima Titling Light, if you will. Check out the A, for example.
My guess is that this dates back to the early days of DTP, and is a digitization of someone's film/CRT version of Optima. MyFonts, Fontshop and Fonts.com (along with a general Google search) didn't turn up anything.
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12 May 2009 — 6:01pm
This goes way back... before DTP. But the A is not something Zapf did, or I think would do.
Check ot Optima Nova. There you will get the weight you want and the author's true forms.
Michael
12 May 2009 — 6:09pm
And the A is actually very ugly and ill fitting with the rest of the font. Too heavy, stilted to the right and has few weight consistencies with the other letters.
Probably Compugraphic or VGC.
Michael
12 May 2009 — 7:02pm
This was an old AM (Addressograph-Multigraph) font from the seventies. Seems like I saw a digital version of it years ago, but I don't recall when or where. The "Q" is arbitrarily different, too, and can still be seen on Minnesota-based QUAST Trucking vehicles. I still wince a little when I see it.
13 May 2009 — 3:39am
In addition to Michael’s comment, a few links: Optima Nova offers a Light weight aswell as a Titling version (an all-caps font with a couple of ligatures and alternates).
If you’re looking for a lighter titling version of Optima, check out Young Finesse by Doyald Young. That typeface started out as Fino Titling Light and is described by its author as “an ultra-thin, elegant drawing of Zapf’s Optima”.
Beorcana by Carl Crossgrove has a wide range of Display weights.
If it may be less calligraphic, have a look at Viceroy by Andrea Tinnes and Verena Gerlach which should be available soon: “ReVerb holds an exclusive license till June 2009” [!]
Furthermore: Accent Graphic by Nick Cooke has a Light, TF Arrow by Joseph Treacy even comes with an Extralight.
F
13 May 2009 — 9:34am
Thanks for the info, guys. Like many of the supplicants on this board, I'm dealing with a font specified by a 3rd party.
I've proposed Optima Nova Light as a substitute.
14 Mar 2012 — 12:29pm
Marcox,
Did you ever find Chelmsford in a digitized format? I try downloading a font called OKLAHOMA, and I believe I'm getting Chelmsford, possibly, instead. Or there is some conflict with this OKLAHOMA font and some font which is or is similar to Chelmsford (it could even be Optima). I remember Chelmsford, and how much it looked like Optima, when I owned & lease some AM Varityper equipment (I got screwed out of a lot of money by that company) back in the eighties - may they NOT rest in peace).
14 Mar 2012 — 1:28pm
I ended up licensing Optima Nova (the "remastered" version of Optima from Linotype) -- more weights, better drawn, etc.
http://www.linotype.com/en/54142/Optimanova-family.html
14 Mar 2012 — 2:07pm
Good for you... So sorry about your arm and leg, as I know you paid dearly :-) But so did I!
14 Mar 2012 — 5:00pm
I'm fortunate enough to work for a company that considers licensing type to be a routine cost of business. Optima Nova was for a magazine which redesigned in 2009, so we've gotten 3 years out of it.
14 Mar 2012 — 6:09pm
Do you get to use the Titling set often? Isn't it lovely?
15 Mar 2012 — 8:49am
The titling initials are lovely, but they don't really fit the aesthetic of the publication. I just gaze at them longingly from time to time...