Lilliput

Lilliput is a typeface with a warm and thoughtful voice, intended for reading especially small text at optical sizes from 5 to 12 points.

I started drawing this design at Type@Cooper Condensed, an intensive postgraduate program taught at Cooper Union. Over the course of five weeks, our small cohort gathered to study typeface design, calligraphy, history and theory with leading artists in the field while we each developed an original typeface for long-form text.

My speculative design brief imagines a series of even-smaller-than-pocket-size miniature novels. Lilliput’s forms are intended to enhance reading at that small scale: a high x-height, compact capitals, subtle translation contrast, slightly broad proportions and flared strokes, among other features.

I focused on these mechanical aspects of legibility to open up the emotional pull of readability: creating an inviting page of text that you want to spend time reading — a fully realized fictional world to escape into.

I’ve drawn the first draft of extended Latin language support and plan to continue expanding the typeface with italics and a range of weights.