Chaparral Typeface

LARAPAHC
chaparral pro the hybrid typeface

adobe foundary
“ The shapes
drawn with the
hand are more
organic and
unpredictable
and therefore
more lively.”
Carol Twombly
1

chaparral
adobe foundary
chaparral pro
display
chaparral pro
bold
Table of Contents
History
Designer
Anatomy
Fonts
Lookalike
Pairs
C h A
chaparral pro
subhead
The history of
Chaparral
pages 4-5
Chaparral was
created in 1997 by
Carol Twombly, type
designer at Adobe
Systems Inc.
Designer Carol
Twombly
pages 6-9
Carol Twombly, designer
of Chaparral
along with several
other typefaces such
as Mirarae, Lithos,
Adobe Systems
& Originals
pages 10-11
American engineers
John Warnock and
Charles Geschke
founded Adobe Systems,
Inc. in 1982.
Intricacies of
letterforms
pages 12-17
It’s apparent that
Twombly had a style
when designing her
typefaces. Although
each typeface is
chaparral pro
italic
chaparral pro
regular
p
a R
r A L
chaparral pro
bold italic
Font pack of
Chaparral
pages 18-19
Chaparral is incredibly
versatile because
of its combinations
of weights and
functions. It could
What typeface
looks very
similar?
pages 20-21
Charter was designed
in the mid
1980s by Matthew
Carter. Although
What pairs
well with
Chaparral?
page 22
Because of Chaparral’s
hybrid quality,
it pairs nicely with
many typefaces. I
chaparral pro
caption
chaparral pro
semibold caption
chaparral pro
light subhead
3

terminal is rigid
a humanist
hits the right stem
slab-serif
spine curves delicately
typeface
terminal ends abruptly
abrupt & no serif
angled slab
the slight
curves of the
serifs
unlike the uppercase
Y, the terminal of the
y ends without a serif
imperfect angle of the
serif
the stroke decreases
in weight once the pen
hyphen is
imperfect
contrasted strokes
chaparral
the shoulders of the m
increase in weight as
the pen goes rightward
hyphen is
imperfect
harsh
angle
spine curves delicately
decrease in
stroke as
you get from
spine to
shoulder tittle
angular
yet curved
stroke
bowl contrast
contrasted
weight of terminal
stroke
difference in
angles from
the left to right
unlike the uppercase
C, the lowercase is
without serif
the crossstroke
of the f is angular
and imperfect
counter of the e
chaparral pro
display
The history of Chaparral
Chaparral was created in
1997 by Carol Twombly,
type designer at Adobe Systems
Inc. A huminist slab-serif typeface,
the heavy-serifed faces
influence its legibility and pairs
well with the sixteenth-century
roman book lettering. The inspiration
for this typeface was the
lettering from a sixteenth-century
manuscript book by Marcantonio
Flaminio. It’s flexibility
lies in its readable slab-serif
style face, and while Twombly
was digitizing sketches, she realized
it was a great, universal
typeface.
The slab-serif was first
commercially used with Vincent
Figgin’s Antique typeface
in 1815. However, because of
the increasing popularity of
the sans-serif typeface classification,
the slab-serif didn’t
popularize until the 1860s and
throughout the 19th century.
This typeface is unlike the
typical geometric slab serif
design because it has letter
proportions that make it both
accessible and friendly, from
weights that range from light to
bold. It has an optical axis from
7–72 points, and is a multiple
master typeface. It’s perfect for
book, poster and newsletter design.
1. a combination of slabserifs
and roman type
2. thin and delicate
strokes
3. 32 different fonts in the
typeface family
The purpose of the slab serif
design originated from the need
to make letterforms more readable,
it spanning as an invisible
baseline along the measure.
Again, it’s flexibility allows for
wide-use, from small size to
bold messages.
Chaparral is incredibly humanist
because of the presense
of the hand, and the imperfections
of each letterform that
isn’t visible unless you reaally
study each glyph.
The typeface contains 32
adobe foundary
5
different fonts in the family
with four oracle sizes: display,
caption, subhead and regular.
It also contains four diffferent
weights: light, italic, semibold
and bold. These fonts can
be combined for hierarchical
purposes, for example, you can
have a Chaparral Pro Bold Italic
Display. The typeface gieves you
the flexibility to utilize the type
for whatever purpose you might
need.
Overall, this typeface is both
professional and friendly. The
abruptness of the slabs make
it very distinct and readable,
but the subtle curves of
each letterform, especially
shown in the leg of the K,
make it playful and welcoming.
It’s usage is deal as captions
and small-print type.
Carol Twombly released
this typeface last after creating
Mirarae, Lithos, Charlemagne,
Trajan, Adobe Caslon, Myriad,
Viva and Nueva. Each typeface
is different and inspired by
History
Designer
Anatomy
Fonts
Lookalike
Pairs
z
r

Carol Twombly, designer of Chaparral
along with several other typefaces
such as Mirarae, Lithos, Adobe Caslon,
Myriad, Viva, Nueva and Charlemagne,
was born in Concord, Massachusetts
in 1959. She went to the
Rhode Island School of Design
for sculpture but later found
that graphic design was the
perfect balance of immediate
expression. Initially studying
sculpture, she graduated from
RISD with a graphic design degree.
Her type design professor,
Charles Bigelow, was an incredible
influence on her typographic
journey — another being Kris
Holmes, Bigelow’s partner. In
his class, she was able to study
and work with the dimensions
of typography. She was also influenced
by Gerald Unger who
taught digital typography for a
semester.
She began to work for Bigelow
& Holmes, studying design
digital type and calligraphy to
execute the precise outline letter
drawings. Charles Bigelow
created a master’s program in
Palo Alto, California, and there
she moved after her freelancing
in Boston to trend. There,
at Stanford University, she
graduated with a Masters of
Science degrees in computer
science and typographic design.
Twombly was inspired by this
masters’ program to choose type
design as a potential career path.
Carol Twombly is just “someone who
comes up with new ways of making letters
for different purposes.’’
After she graduated from the masters’
chaparral
Carol Twombly, Adobe type designer
program Bigelow created, she created her
first typeface Mirarae. She submitted it in
the 1984 International Typeface Competition
and won first place. The company
requested a bold version, as well.
She began working at Adobe Systems
Inc., as a part-time designer, and the once
part-time job turned into a full-time role.
By 1988, she was one of two Adobe inhouse
type designers.
Twombly has said that “utlimate uses
of the type – text or display – should be
determined first” and that “the underlying
shapes should be based in well-proportioned,
legible skeletons
where details
play an important
part.”
Twombly has always
relied on her
eyes and hand rather
than just the metal
type that most scholars
would utilize.
She says, “If a type
is well-received and
widely used by the
public then it is a success.”
Chaparral was
the last typeface she
designed in 1997, a
slab-serif combining
nineteenth-century
and sixteenth-century
design and book
letterings, respectively.
She received the
Charles Peignot
Award from the
Association Typographique
Internationale
for her contribution
to type design
in 1994.
Carol Twombly sketching. (Photo/wzvwan.com)
Twombly left
Adobe and completely
retired in 1999
after being type design
manager to develop her own work. She
has utilized this time to draw, paint on
textiles, bead, and basket-make.
LITHOS
1989
adobe foundary
CHARLEMAGNE
1989
trajan
1989
ADOBE CASLON
1990
Myriad
1991
Viva
1993
Nueva
1993
Chaparral
1997
History
Designer
Anatomy
Fonts
Lookalike
Pairs
7

Twombly’s style
It’s apparent that Twombly
had a style when designing
her typefaces. Although each
typeface is incredibly different,
there are characteristics about
her letterforms that make them
Twombly’s. I’ll be comparing
chaparral
some of her previous typefaces
to that of Chaparral to make
this style more apparent. Because
of her calligraphic background,
you can see the slight
curves of her strokes, the way
they contrast one another depending
on where they hit the
letterform. The stress can be
shown in the bowls of the lowercase
a or the diagonal strokes
of the w.
chaparral pro
adobe foundary
a a
the contrast and
curves of the lowercase
a are very similar,
even though one
is a slab serif and the
other is a sans serif
myriad
History
Designer
Anatomy
Fonts
Lookalike
Pairs
chaparral pro
u u
the calligraphic qualities
are shown once
the left stem joins
the right stem to create
the serif divet
nueva
twombly utilizes the
top serif but has the
abrupt terminal
chaparral pro
C C
adobe caslon
both letterforms are
asymmetrical with
the diagonal strokes
chaparral pro
X X
adobe caslon
Carol Twombly sketches. (Photo/Adobe Typekit)
all fonts chosen are regular
9

chaparral
adobe foundary
The Adobe Original type designers. (Photo/Adobe Typekit)
Robert Slimbach and Carol Twombly working together. (Photo/Adobe)
Adobe Systems, Inc.
Adobe Originals
American engineers John
Warnock and Charles
Geschke founded Adobe Systems,
Inc. in 1982.
John Warnock, former principal
scientist at Xerox Palo
Alto Research Center went to
the University of Utah, studying
mathematics and philosophy.
He received a doctorate in
electrical engineering. Charles
Geschke formed Imaging Sciences
Laboratory at Xerox Palo
Alto Research Center.
PostScript — a computer
page description language that
allows type and graphic images
to be combined — was developed
by both Geschke and
Warnock in 1983. A year later,
it was distributed privately
and in 1985, it was introduced
through the Apple LaserWriter.
It’s considered one of the greatest
revolutions in desktop publishing
because of the different
sizes within type design and the
ability for the codes to generate
their own codes of characters,
treating the images as previously
analyzed by a scanner. It
translates that information into
a binary language.
PostScript is the most common
digital font format on
Macintosh, IMB, and NeXt computers
for electronic publishing.
Sumner Stone was the director
of the type design department
from 1984 – 1989, and
under his authority, different
designers developed programs
for digitizing classical typefaces.
Under this program, Robert
Slimback designed Garamond
in 1987.
Adobe offered more than
200 fonts by 1989, which has
developed more than 2500
PostScript fonts. These fonts
are considered to be “Adobe
Originals.” After stone’s departure,
Fred Brady became the
new manager of typographical
development. His team consisted
of both senior type designers
Carol Twombly — who joined in
1988 — and Robert Slimbach.
American engineers John
Warnock and Charles
Geschke founded Adobe Systems,
Inc. in 1982.
John Warnock, former principal
scientist at Xerox Palo
Alto Research Center went to
the University of Utah, studying
mathematics and philosophy.
He received a doctorate in
electrical engineering. Charles
Geschke formed Imaging Sciences
Laboratory at Xerox Palo
Alto Research Center.
PostScript — a computer
page description language that
allows type and graphic images
to be combined — was developed
by both Geschke and
Warnock in 1983. A year later,
it was distributed privately
and in 1985, it was introduced
through the Apple LaserWriter.
It’s considered one of the greatest
revolutions in desktop publishing
because of the different
sizes within type design and the
ability for the codes to generate
their own codes of characters,
treating the images as previously
analyzed by a scanner. It
translates that information into
a binary language.
PostScript is the most common
digital font format on
Macintosh, IMB, and NeXt computers
for electronic publishing.
Sumner Stone was the director
of the type design department
from 1984 – 1989, and
under his authority, different
designers developed programs
for digitizing classical typefaces.
Under this program, Robert
Slimback designed Garamond
in 1987.
Adobe offered more than
200 fonts by 1989, which has
developed more than 2500
PostScript fonts. These fonts
are considered to be “Adobe
Originals.” After stone’s departure,
Fred Brady became the
new manager of typographical
development. His team consisted
of both senior type designers
Carol Twombly — who joined in
1988 — and Robert Slimbach.
11

chaparral
adobe foundary
chaparral
anatomy
ascender
cap height
base line
descender
History
Designer
Anatomy
Fonts
Lookalike
Pairs
chaparral pro
bold
forms
R Z Q
L M E
“
Carol Twombly sketching on tracing paper. (Photo/Oak Knoll)
I discovered that the
communication of ideas by
positioning black shapes on a
white page offered a welcome
balance between freedom and
structure.
Carol Twombly
13

The hairline of the
A varies in weight
chaparral
straightened angle
when magnified
straightened angle
angle variation
Aa Bb Cc Dd
stress
angles at different
points
of the x-axis
adobe foundary
ear of the g
angle variation
Ee Ff Gg Hh
anchor
point irregularity
The curves of the
weight difference with
lowercase a have imperfect
anchor points
leftward than the top
bottom serif more
M diagonal strokes
Ii Kk Ll Mm
curves above the serif
slight
angled tail
assymetry
Nn Oo
angle is abrupt
Pp
of the H
Qq
letterforms interact
with standard kern
expansion of K to
curves beneath the
the leg curves nicely
serifs
Rr Ss Tt
curve where the N stress of the O difference
hits the baseline
of counter
angles
apex does not hit the cap
Uu Vv Ww
height
angled tail
straighted angle
symmetrical
letter, assymetrical
strokes and angles
angle at the stem,
curves at the serif
Xx
slightly curved
but straighted t
terminal
stroke weight
curved vertex
difference, assymetry
the baseline
angle
where V hits
Yy Zz
symmetrical letter,
asymmetrical
strokes and angles
serifless terminal
dipped form from
stroke to serif
15

chaparral
the lines mimic the calligraphy pen
straightened lines where the
stroke changes direction
adobe foundary
History
Designer
Anatomy
Fonts
Lookalike
Pairs
slightly angled serifs
the right stroke is smaller in width
than the left
Carol Twombly’s humanist
approach is seen with
the imperfections of her letterforms.
I think the letter W,
uppercase, is the perfect example
of the slight imperfections
that make the Chaparral letterforms
friendly, paired with
the angularity of the slab serif.
There are several anchor points
throughout the W, the serifs
curving slightly. They aren’t
perfectly linear, and it shows.
When Twombly was sketching,
by chance she utilized a calligraphy
pen which could be the determining
factor of the curves.
Whenever there is a divet in the
vertex and apex, she contained
a straight line. Her angles
throughout the letterforms are
also different, which adds to the
asymmetry of the letterforms.
This isn’t just apparent in the
W, but is displayed in all of the
Chaparral letterforms. The apex
of the W does not extend to the
cap height, but instead, falls in
the middle of the serifs. It isn’t
obvious at first glance until one
really studies the letterform.
17

chaparral
adobe foundary
Font pack
Chaparral is incredibly versatile
because of its combinations
of weights and functions.
It could be divided into 8
sectors --- Chaparral Pro Light,
Caption, Regular, Subhead, Display,
Italic, Semibold, Bold.
Chaparral is incredibly versatile
because of its combinations of
weights and functions. It could
be divided into 8 sectors --- Chaparral
Pro Light, Caption, Regular,
Subhead, Display, Italic, Semibold,
Bold. Chaparral is incredibly
versatile because of its combinations
of weights and functions.
It could be divided into 8 sectors
--- Chaparral Pro Light, Caption,
Regular, Subhead, Display, Italic,
Semibold, Bold. Chaparral is
incredibly versatile because of
its combinations of weights and
functions. It could be divided
into 8 sectors --- Chaparral Pro
Light, Caption, Regular, Subhead,
Display, Italic, Semibold, Bold.
Chaparral is incredibly versatile
because of its combinations of
weights and functions. It could
be divided into 8 sectors --- Chaparral
Pro Light, Caption, Regular,
Subhead, Display, Italic, Semibold,
Bold. Chaparral is incredibly
versatile because of its combinations
of weights and functions.
It could be divided into 8 sectors
--- Chaparral Pro Light, Caption,
Regular, Subhead, Display, Italic,
Semibold, Bold. Chaparral is
incredibly versatile because of
its combinations of weights and
functions. It could be divided into
8 sectors --- Chaparral Pro Light,
Caption, Regular, Subhead, Display,
Italic, Semibold, Bold.
The quick brown fox jumps over a lazy dog
The quick brown fox jumps over a lazy
display
caption
four
optical
sizes
four
weight
sizes
A B C D E F
G H I J K L M
N O P Q R S T U
V Q X Y Z a b
cdefghijklm
nopqrstuvqx
yz012345678
9!#"$%() *+,, ,
, , - - - - - - -
display
A B C D E F
G H I J K L M
NOPQRSTU
V Q X Y Z a b
cdefghijklm
nopqrstuvqx
yz012345678
9!#"$%() *+,, ,
, , - - - - - - -
light
A B C D E F
G H I J K L M
NOPQRSTU
V Q X Y Z a b
cdefghijklm
nopqrstuvqx
yz012345678
9!#"$%() *+,, ,
, , - - - - - - -
caption
A B C D E F
G H I J K L M
NOPQRSTU
V Q X Y Z a b
cdefghijklm
nopqrstuvqx
yz012345678
9!#"$%() *+,, ,
, , - - - - - - -
italic
A B C D E F
G H I J K L M
NOPQRSTU
V Q X Y Z a b
cdefghijklm
nopqrstuvqx
yz012345678
9!#"$%() *+,, ,
, , - - - - - - -
regular
A B C D E F
G H I J K L M
NOPQRSTU
V Q X Y Z a b
cdefghijklm
nopqrstuvqx
yz012345678
9!#"$%() *+,, ,
, , - - - - - - -
semibold
A B C D E F
G H I J K L M
NOPQRSTU
V Q X Y Z a b
cdefghijklm
nopqrstuvqx
yz012345678
9!#"$%() *+,, ,
, , - - - - - - -
subhead
A B C D E F
G H I J K L M
NOPQRSTU
V Q X Y Z a b
cdefghijklm
nopqrstuvqx
yz012345678
9!#"$%()*+,,,
, , - - - - - - -
bold
History
Designer
Anatomy
Fonts
Lookalike
Pairs
The quick brown fox jumps over a lazy
regular
standard
ligatures
Th|ff|fi|fl|ffi|ffl|fj|ffj|Ţh|Ťh|Țh
The quick brown fox jumps over a lazy dog
subhead
ornaments
()012345678a9bcdefghrqponmlkjistuvwx
The quick brown fox jumps over a lazy dog
The quick brown fox jumps over a lazy dog
The quick brown fox jumps over a lazy
The quick brown fox jumps over a lazy dog
light
italic
semibold
bold
*fonts can be combined
This is
Chaparral Bold Italic Display
Use display when you want larger, headline text. Because the tracking is
tighter, it works well blown up for legibility.
Use caption when you want smaller text that accompanies photographs or
graphics. It works well in a smaller type size because of the spacing of letters.
Use regular for body text. The space between letters is wider than caption
but not as tight as display. It makes for the perfect middle ground.
Use subhead for subsections of an article or piece of writing. It works well
accompanied by that bigger headline.
19

Lookalike: Charter
Charter was designed in the
mid 1980s by Matthew
Carter. Although it’s a transitional-serif
typeface, it has
many of the humanist qualities
chaparral
that Chaparral poses. It has the
slab serif characteristics. Many
of the angles in letterforms of
Charter mimic those of Chaparral.
Despite some drast differences,
like ball terminals, angles
of curves, more abrupt qualities
of Charter, they are incredibly
similar.
chaparral and charter, respectively
adobe foundary
angled serifs
contrast is similar
serifs on c
AA aa BB bb CC cc
curved versus angular handle
DD dd EE ee FF ff
History
Designer
Anatomy
Fonts
Lookalike
Pairs
100 pts.
chaparral pro regular
AXaxph
72
46
cross stroke imperfection vs.
angularity
divet before bowl hits stem
GG gg
hits serif
HH hh II ii
0
JJ jj KK kk LL ll
22
serif terminals
serif protrude
100 pts.
charter regular
AXaxph
74
50
MM mm NN nn
shoulder contrasts
asymmetry
OO oo PP pp QQ qq
stress areas are the same
0
23
RR rr SS ss TT tt
serifs are very similar
terminal ends abruptly
SS
UU uu VV vv
contrast of stroke
WW ww XX xx
asymmetry
chaparral pro
bold
charter
bold
YY yy ZZ zz
slight different is the ball
terminals in Charter
21
serifs like the s are very
similar

Chaparral pairings
Because of Chaparral’s hybrid
quality, it pairs nicely with
many typefaces. I wanted to do
a very contrasted pairing with
chaparral
another pairing that wasn’t
as contrasted. I knew for both
pairings, that I wanted a serif
paired with a sans-serif typeface.
Both of these pairings fit
well for digital and print.
adobe foundary
History
Designer
Anatomy
Fonts
Lookalike
Pairs
THIS IS PROXIMA NOVA BLACK
This is Chaparral Pro Regular. This font contrasts nicely
with Proxima Nova Black because of the differing
weight and classification. The slab serifs of the Chaparral
Pro Light make it easier to read.
proxima nova
chaparral pro regular
This is Chaparral Pro Regular
Myriad is another one of Carol Twombly’s typefaces, so it’s
no surprise that the sans-serif letterforms of Myriad would
pair nicely with the slab-serifed Chaparral.
Members of the Adobe type team, , from left: Jim Wasco, Robert Slimbach, Carol Twombly and Fred Brady. (Photo/LUNA)
chaparral pro regular
myriad regular
23

Design
chaparral
Sophia Haynes
Typefaces
Chaparral Pro, Lithos, Charlemagne, Trajan, Adobe Caslon, Myriad, Viva, Nueva
ARGD 4030 Advanced Typography
Spring 2022
Sources
“Adobe Typekit Blog.” The Typekit Blog | Most Overlooked Typefaces: Chaparral, https://blog.typekit.com/2005/11/07/most_overlooked_1/.
“Adobe Typekit Blog.” The Typekit Blog | The Adobe Originals Silver Anniversary Story: Stone, Slimbach, and Twombly Launch the First
Originals, https://blog.typekit.com/2014/06/12/the-adobe-originals-silver-anniversary-story-stone-slimbach-and-twombly-launch-the-firstoriginals/.
“Carol Twombly.” Carol Twombly | Adobe Fonts, https://fonts.adobe.com/designers/carol-twombly.
“Carol Twombly.” Wikipedia, Wikimedia Foundation, 10 Jan. 2022, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Carol_Twombly.
“Carol Twombly: Prominent Female Typographer of the 20th Century.” Welcome to Digital Art Teacher!, https://www.digitalartteacher.com/
blog/2019/05/carol/twombly.
Carter, Sebastian. Twentieth Century Type Designers / Sebastian Carter. Norton, 1995. Includes bibliographical references and index.
“Since its first publication. in 1987, [this title] has become a standard reference work for typographers, designers and students alike. This new
edition includes an examination of the latest technological developments in the design and composition of type, and introduces the work of
some of the more recent designers to have made their mark in this century.”--Dust jacket.
“Chaparral Font Combinations & Free Alternatives · Typewolf.” Typewolf, https://www.typewolf.com/chaparral.
“Chaparral Font Family Typeface Story.” Fonts.com, https://www.fonts.com/font/adobe/chaparral/story.
Consuegra, David. American Type : Design & Designers / David Consuegra. Allworth Press, 2004. Includes bibliographical references and
index.
“ ... An extensive reference that chronicles a rich history. With recreations of and essays about more than 330 different typefaces as well as
numerous illustrations, this ... book reveals unique contributions made to the world of type design. ... includes the typefaces and biographies
of sixty-two of the most influential type designers ... Also included ... are a chronological timeline of type-related events from 1600 to 2003,
a comparative chronology of typefaces worldwide from 1620 to 2002, a thorough description and history of eight U.S. type foundries, and a
comprehensive glossary of type terms.”--Back wrapper.
Friedlander, Joel. “Typeface Designer Carol Twombly’s Short but Brilliant Career.” The Book Designer, 24 Feb. 2016, https://www.thebookdesigner.com/carol-twombly-an-extraordinary-type-designer/.
Her Typography, http://wzvwan.com/caroltwombly/work.html.
info@linotype.com. “Chaparral.” Chaparral Font Family | Linotype.com, https://www.linotype.com/44236/chaparral-family.html.
Stock-Allen, Nancy, et al. “Carol Twombly: Her Brief but Brilliant Career in Type Design by Nancy Stock-Allen on Oak Knoll.” Oak Knoll, Oak
Knoll Press, https://www.oakknoll.com/pages/books/125344/nancy-stock-allen/carol-twombly-her-brief-but-brilliant-career-in-type-design.

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a typeface created by Carol Twombly
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