MegaMegaTypeType
A Soviet-era legibility serif rooted in Century Schoolbook, digitised and extended with condensed styles for ParaType in 2005.
About
Tracing its origins to a 1939 Soviet adaptation of Morris F. Benton's Century Schoolbook, the typeface was developed at the Polygraphmash type design bureau between 1949 and 1961 under Elena Tsaregorodtseva. The low-contrast letterforms belong to the Ionic-Legibility group, optimised for small-text reading in schoolbooks and children's publications. The digital version and condensed cuts were drawn by Manvel Shmavonyan for ParaType in 2005, adding six styles in total.
Classification
A low-contrast text typeface of the Ionic-Legibility group, tracing its lineage through Soviet-era schoolbook types back to Century Schoolbook by Morris F. Benton. Designed expressly for sustained reading at small sizes in educational publishing.