I consider Heldane a third generation garalde typeface drawn from secondary sources. The first generation are 16th century works from the likes of van den Keere, Garamont, Granjon and De Colines. The second generation are 20th century conscious metal revivals. By conscious, I mean the concerted effort to revive a specific style, whether the source was accurate — like Stempel Garamond; or not — like American Type Foundry Garamond No.3.

The third generation are those made since 1955, after the re-discovery of the Plantin-Moretus archives and subsequent scholarship. These are types like Sabon, Galliard, Adobe Garamond and Renard. The designers of these faces skilfully exploit modern scholarship, disambiguation of punchcutters, and trace accurate lines to their primary sources.

I used secondary sources because I didn’t have access to primary specimens or to original renaissance books when I started drawing Heldane. I used facsimile prints, scans and images found online. During the 10 year development process I acquired primary specimens of van den Keere and Garamont, but they didn’t change the fundamentals of Heldane.