Foundry Journal derives its name from its intended use in magazines and brochures, where the narrow column measures require a more condensed typeface that is economic with space. The family has four weights: book and book italic, medium, demi, and bold.

Notes

When I presented Quay Sans to ITC in New York Erik Spiekermaan was also presenting his Officina. Coincidentally both typefaces, which appear quite different where both answering the same question — a font to work in a similar environment.

Foundry Journal was released in 1995, it was a reworking of Quay Sans designed earlier for ITC, before The Foundry was formed. Here was the chance to improve everything in one go. When you design a typeface and look back on it, you can always see ways of improving it. ITC also had a very rigid structure which I had to adhere to. On review the fine flared serifs were removed as they were inconsequent to the design and many shapes were improved or redrawn. In fact in the end we totally redrew the entire typeface; and the ugly ultra bold weight insisted on by ITC was also relegated to the dustbin! We renamed the typeface Foundry Journal after its intended use in magazines and journals.

Written by Linotype

ITC Quay Sans is made up of very simple, legible letters. The weights of the strokes throughout the alphabet vary very little. Microscopic flares on the ends of each terminal add a bit of dimension to the design. This helps prevent the onset of the monotony, a danger when one repeats countless near mono-weight stroked letters throughout a large body of text. ITC Quay Sans is a very readable face; it works equally well in all sizes. (Does this mean all mono-weight stroked typefaces are monotonous?!)

I think the description of Quay Sans that Linotype has on their web-site is totally wrong, after I removed the flares on the terminals I could see that the bare structure of the letters gave enough character. In fact the microscopic flares soften and weaken the strength in the letters. The sharp angularity that I gave the joining of the curved connecting stroke to the main stem gave deep v cut-ins, as on the a, b, d, g, h, n, that make the letters more legible and give energy to the letters. I never intended this alphabet to be read in huge volumes of text. It was, as I have already said, a magazine face or for use in advertising literature, this is reflected in the contrast of weights selected for the family. Foundry Journal has always been remarkably successful for The Foundry. Foundry Journal has recently undergone a further upgrading this time preparing the fonts for OpenType.