Gargoyle

Gargoyle

Gargoyle Black

Gargoyle Black

Gargoyle Cameo

Gargoyle Cameo

Typography is the design and arrangement of the simple graphic glyphs that embody language. A typeface conveys tone and emotion, often before a single word is read. Each character is shaped by centuries of use, misuse, and reinvention; these glyphs aren’t static, they mutate to reflect shifts in culture and technology. Type carries the fossil imprints of its evolution: the serifs of the Roman chisel, the flourish of pen on parchment, and more recently, the mechanical construction of pixels and Bézier curves. The anatomy of a typeface – its ascenders, bowls, terminals, x-height – operates as a kind of dialect; a grotesque sans and a humanist serif speak with very different inflections. Typography is rarely neutral – it encodes values like reliability, luxury, rebellion, sincerity, intimacy. True geometry rarely reads well to the human eye. Letters must often be subtly distorted to look correct. Circular letters like “O” overshoot the baseline and cap height to appear optically aligned; vertical and horizontal strokes differ in thickness to appear equal. These imperceptible adjustments are foundational to good type design.

Gargoyle Black

Typography is the design and arrangement of the simple graphic glyphs that embody language. A typeface conveys tone and emotion, often before a single word is read. Each character is shaped by centuries of use, misuse, and reinvention; these glyphs aren’t static, they mutate to reflect shifts in culture and technology. Type carries the fossil imprints of its evolution: the serifs of the Roman chisel, the flourish of pen on parchment, and more recently, the mechanical construction of pixels and Bézier curves. The anatomy of a typeface – its ascenders, bowls, terminals, x-height – operates as a kind of dialect; a grotesque sans and a humanist serif speak with very different inflections. Typography is rarely neutral – it encodes values like reliability, luxury, rebellion, sincerity, intimacy. True geometry rarely reads well to the human eye. Letters must often be subtly distorted to look correct. Circular letters like “O” overshoot the baseline and cap height to appear optically aligned; vertical and horizontal strokes differ in thickness to appear equal. These imperceptible adjustments are foundational to good type design.

Gargoyle Cameo

A
B
C
D
E
F
G
H
I
J
K
L
M
N
O
P
Q
R
S
T
U
V
W
X
Y
Z
À
Á
Â
Ã
Ä
Å
Æ
Ç
È
É
Ê
Ë
Ì
Í
Î
Ï
Ð
Ñ
Ò
Ó
Ô
Õ
Ö
Ø
Ù
Ú
Û
Ü
Ý
Þ
Ł
Œ
Š
Ÿ
Ž
a
b
c
d
e
f
g
h
i
j
k
l
m
n
o
p
q
r
s
t
u
v
w
x
y
z
ß
à
á
â
ã
ä
å
æ
ç
è
é
ê
ë
ì
í
î
ï
ð
ñ
ò
ó
ô
õ
ö
ø
ù
ú
û
ü
ý
þ
ÿ
ı
ł
œ
š
ž
π
ª
º
0
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
!
#
*
,
.
/
:
;
?
\
¡
·
¿
"
'
«
»
(
)
[
]
{
}
-
_
&
@
|
©
®
°
$
¢
£
¥
ƒ
%
+
<
=
>
~
^
`
´
ˆ
˜
¯
˘
˙
¨
˚
˝
ˇ
¸
˛

Gargoyle Character Set

About

Gargoyle is based on an unused proposal for a Batman logo for DC Comics’ 1997 Tangent mini-series, and was later developed into a full font including lower case and additional detailing. Informed by the calligraphic flat-pen origins of gothic Blackletter styles, here the stroke angle is freely flipped – for example, on characters like the M, V and the dots on the lower-case i and j – in ways that a strict blackletter would avoid. A cameo version is intended for use as drop capitals.