Caponi

Most contemporary revivals of Giambattista Bodoni’s work have focused almost entirely on the elegant, high-contrast types that he cut in the early part of the nineteenth century. Caponi, named for the late Amid Capeci, who commissioned it for his twentieth anniversary revamp of Entertainment Weekly, expands the notion of what Bodoni’s work was. It draws a bit on his later work, but takes as its primary reference the typefaces he cut during the early years of his career, when he had been greatly influenced by the Rococco style of the French printer and punchcutter Pierre Simon Fournier. The three families of Caponi each play a different role while complementing each other. Caponi Display is a traditional Modern with relatively high contrast, ideal for headline typography. Caponi Slab is low contrast throughout, culminating in a punchy Black weight, useful for large and expressive display typography, while also being robust enough for subheads, pull quotes, and other small display uses. Caponi Text is a more faithful interpretation of Bodoni’s early work, capturing the unexpected warmth of his romans and the quirks of the italics, with mismatched terminal shapes and subtly varying serifs.