Nicholas Font: Jenson-Inspired Titles with Automatic Fitting

The original Nicholas specimen connects the design to Nicolas Jenson’s printed type and distinguishes Nicholas for display from Goodchild for text. Shinn explains the larger x-height and the use of embedded kerning and alternates as a contemporary interpretation. Keep the Shinntype attribution beside a saved specimen: an unrelated font named Nicholas does not inherit this design history.

Start with a two-line book title, “A Parade of Letters / Turn the Page.” Preserve one copy at its default spacing. On another, inspect the family’s automatic fitting features in your editor; on a third, try a modest tracking adjustment. Look at actual letter shapes as well as gaps. The publisher describes alternates that improve fit automatically, so a changed outline is evidence that more than spacing has happened. Do not use optical kerning and manual tracking simultaneously while trying to identify which method produced the result.

Place the chosen title above a short paragraph in a text face. Adjust the paragraph independently instead of forcing the title’s density onto the whole page. Shinntype’s specimen makes a useful comparison between its text and display interpretations; study those labeled examples before deciding that a tightly fitted title needs equally tight small copy. Repeat the title proof at its final output size, then check punctuation at the line ends. The independent profiles below support a title-layout exercise, not an original Nicholas preview.