MegaMegaTypeType
A contemporary text face designed by sign painter John Downer for Bitstream in 1990, drawing on Jenson and Griffo revivals with a larger x-height and tighter fit, later extended with a Cyrillic by Natalia Vasilyeva.
About
John Downer's design takes the humanist serif tradition rooted in Jenson and Griffo as its starting point, then adjusts the proportions for modern text use: the x-height is raised, the letterfit tightened and the capitals reproportioned. ParaType released a Cyrillic extension in 2017, designed by Natalia Vasilyeva, broadening the family's coverage to Russian and related languages. Six styles are available: Regular, Italic, Bold, Bold Italic, Black and Black Italic.
Classification
Modelled on Jenson and Griffo revivals, Iowan Old Style sits firmly in the humanist serif tradition with its pen-derived forms, though it departs from historical models with a larger x-height and tighter letterfit suited to contemporary text use.