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.
AM 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 Italia
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)
