Toshna Collection

Optical Sizes: >>> Toshna Book > 9 pt >>> Toshna > 12 pt >>> Toshna Display > 24 pt ################## Toshna About Herself ... May I introduce myself to you? My name is Toshna and I am a typeface, well rather a font, and a real Leipzig girl. I am what the experts call a renaissance antiqua and therefore have a huge following. Well, you can't choose your kin, but you are welcome to grant me a little vanity. Despite this long family tree, I am still a child of my time. By "my time" I mean the 1950s. After the Second World War, all the broken acquaintances, (Gothic scripts) had fallen out of favor. What could be more natural for a diligent graphic designer than to do a classic oldstyle? Well, some of you will now object that an oldstyle, no matter what kind it is, belongs to the basics, to the proper tool of every designer. You are right. After the war years, there was a great need for new typefaces. New types were needed, and so they went to work separately in both the West and the East, due to the political circumstances of the time. Why am I telling you this? Well, I'm trying to build a bridge to my father, who wasn't really a type designer in the strict sense. Oh yes, he could handle type, but he was a master of the brush and the fine pen, more of a draftsman than a calligrapher - yet always down to earth. Who am I talking about? Hellmuth Tschörtner. Well, the name may not mean much to you. Names are smoke and mirrors. If you own German books by Insel Verlag from the 50s, 60s or 70s, please take a closer look at the covers and dust jackets. You most certainly have one designed by him among them. Maybe even a book with his typical cursive title font. Well, he created the firstborn, the "Tschörtner Antiqua" and in a certain way also me, because I am very close to my sister in essence. It is often said that the firstborn have a privilege, but that is probably only the case with old noble families. If you like, there is another father. His name is Andreas Seidel and he gradually breathed my life into me. He digitally redrew me, in three optical sizes. Of course, he put his whole hand on me, from the big O all the way down to the little z. I like my name "Toshna." It's short, concise to the point and everyone can pronounce it easily. Andreas thinks it emphasizes my feminine side. I like to put up with that. I can't tell you exactly when I was born, you'll have to ask him. After all, it took a first alphabet before I could articulate myself for the first time, still without periods and commas. It must have taken more than two years, from the first letter to the last kerning pair. Yes, I am a bit proud of my digital existence and look forward to the world out there. My digital existence offers the best conditions for a hopefully long life, at least as long as there is a need for computers and writing. Although, I must confess, I am rather made for printing on paper. Thanks to a good hinting I make a passable figure on the screen despite my many curves. The straight line was and is alien to me, even if digital technology invites me to smooth out all the fine details. And my slim display shapes look good on any medium. Andreas trimmed my ascenders a bit, not regrettably, there was plenty of ascender. Around the bottom, if I may say so, it was a bit "tight", I now have more clearance there. The whole thing also benefited my x-height, which is the relative height of the lowercase letters (minuscules) to the uppercase letters (capitals). My serifs are now more bold throughout, especially in the small size, workprint grade (Book), and this with my rather slight build. It's like I'm wearing bricks on my head with oversized platform shoes. Please use the Book style only up to 10 points, well up to 10.5 points but no more, otherwise I look too roundish and you do not want to offend the eyes of your readers. Thanks to OpenType, which is the name of the format in which I exist as a font or as a group of fonts, my character pool is very abundant. Almost all Latin, European languages can be set with me. Numbers I can offer in different formats. Dynamic fractions and scientific superscripts and subscripts I serve promptly. Andreas has even included the minuscules together with some additional characters for the superscript and subscript and for the dynamic fractions. Does anyone really need this? Adam Twardoch surely put this flea into his ear. Adam is a globetrotter of type design. He has, from time to time, examined me, especially for my accent marks. He appreciates my rock-solid forms in work typesetting. As a font expert, the man must know. He can sing a song about much too thin, anorexic typefaces. As a teenager, you can still read these just fine, but wait until you pass thirty. You too will need reading glasses at some point - for sure! Yes, and then I'm sure you'll often despair of those "hunger hook" fonts. These are not bad per se, they just work less well the smaller they are printed. Andreas Stötzner is another person I have to mention. He has criticized my versal eszett, Andreas Seidel has adapted it according to his hints. It is the so-called "Dresden" form. Until now, I only knew the Dresdner Christstollen, but this is of course not a typographic term. Dresdner Form sounds good and catchy. Although, the idea of a versal eszett is probably a Leipzig thing. Most lead typefaces with such a capital letter were made by Schelter & Giesecke, a Leipzig type foundry. Then there is Ingo Preuß, a good friend of Andreas. He has often encouraged Andreas to persevere when he was tired of me again. I know it was not meant personally, but now and then Andreas needed some distance from me. But in the end something became of me, didn't it? Did I forget to mention something? I think you're informed for now. How about it - would you like to invite me for a coffee?