Tirana is a condensed geometric sans with caps and lowercase. It is rich in colour, with a geometric flavour and sharp details. It has a large x-height, low contrast, and very open apertures. Some of the letterforms come from classic modernist lettering, such as the exceedingly open C and S, or the pointed A and N. However, the design is defined by its treatment of spurs and joints, which are either squared or closed at a sharp angle, and its lenticular and lemon-slice counters.
Tirana
Tirana was a wood type cut by Xilografia Italiana, a company operating at Badia Polesine (Veneto region, between Verona and Rovigo), most likely between 1938 and 1941. It was released in several body sizes ranging from 4 to 30 lines (roughly 50 and 380 points), and Xilografia Italiana also sold a slanted version of Tirana under the name of Corsica.
Courtesy TIF Tipoteca Italiana Fondazione
Most of AM Tirana’s OpenType features are derived from their wood type source. For tightly leaded all-caps settings, there are raised dashes, guillemets, @, and more compact parentheses. Stylistic sets preserve alternate characters originally available with the type: the large-countered 6 and 9 and the more conventional ‘closed’ C and G (to which a companion lowercase c has been added); the original ampersand has been kept. To these alternates have been added rounded variants of the u, m and w.
Courtesy Luca Lattuga
Case sensitive glyphs
Closing C, G, c (SS 01)
Round bottomed u (SS 02)
Rounded m, w (SS 03)
Original alt 6, 9 (SS 04)
Original ampersand (SS 05)
