Canto Pen
Lipton Letter Design · Richard Lipton
A pen-drawn serif from Richard Lipton, occupying the middle register of the Canto series between brush informality and formal Roman inscription.
About
Canto Pen draws on Edward M. Catich's research into the origins of Roman inscriptional lettering, most famously found on Trajan's column, filtered through Lipton's four decades of professional calligraphy. Classical capitals are paired with Lipton's own calligraphic lowercase, small caps and swashes across four weights with matching italics. OpenType features include discretionary ligatures, old-style numerals and ornaments, reflecting the series' calligraphic ambition.
Classification
Canto Pen occupies the middle ground in Lipton's Canto series, between the gestural Brush and the formal Roman, with letterforms drawn from pen calligraphy rooted in the Roman inscriptional tradition. The design combines classical capitals derived from Catich's analysis of Trajan's column with Lipton's own calligraphic lowercase.