A handwritten decorative font with brush characteristics
This attractive decorative script is found in a pamphlet of script samples from around 1900 which was issued by Otto Maier publishing house in Ravensburg/Germany. The forms and flow of Maier’s Nr. 42 are obviously influenced by Art Nouveau.
In the original sample, only the Latin alphabet appears. All other characters, especially the Greek and Cyrillic letters, were modeled on elements of the original.
A typeface can first reveal a true "handmade" character when the letter forms do not continually repeat themselves – a completely normal occurrence with handwriting. Thanks to OpenType, some key letters of Maier’s Nr. 42 appear in various alternative forms depending on the combination of letters. For example, the difference is obvious between an e followed by i and an e followed by l. Using this principle, a number of letter combinations are presented with alternative character forms so that overall a very lively impression is created.