In our modern times people print ever more futile ideas and intersperse them with many blank pages. There is no need to economize on paper and to look out for optically narrowed type faces. An opposite situation is in every biblical society where the editors must cram a text containing some 2000 pages into a single volume. That is where there is a need for type faces which are economizing, legible and spiritually cultivated. The new Biblon type face, therefore, does not need to rely on a wide range of sizes; it is sufficient if it looks well from approximately five to eighteen points. Its elegance decreases commensurately with its increasing size. In poster sizes the speculative construction of the letter form is already revealed – the points of gravity of the strokes are shifted as much as possible in the horizontal directions and the crotches – the spaces between the rounded stroke and the shaft – are emphasized. In small-size letters we hardly notice that almost all horizontal serifs (if they have not disappeared entirely) have been pushed inside the letter form so that they should not hamper the adjacent letters. To quieten the lines, the accents have been miniaturized as well. The figures have uniform width and avow the lower case principle. The italics of Biblon have been stylized more daringly, with the use of long-forsaken Rococo elements. The slanted designs of the small capitals have upper case letters slightly submerged under the capital line, in order to enhance the decorative character of titles and headings. Biblon has a large x-height of lower-case letters and one can get used to its compressed proportions. Many condensed type faces leave a feeling of distress after longer reading. Here, however, this has been sophisticatedly eliminated. We have availed ourselves in this type face design also of several optical tricks dating from fairly recent period, but our main source of inspiration was the daringness of type designers of the 18th century. Underneath the contemporary-looking design of Biblon one can conjecture a Baroque play with the shifting of shadows, intentional overstatement or absolute simplification of forms. Even though Biblon probably will not be used for its purpose in the near future, it represents a very sound body type.
In the spring of 2000 the ITC Company decided to include Biblon in its catalogue. Their pastime is giving other people's type faces more decent look. In the case of bold designs, the darkness of the upper case letters was slightly subdued. Another positive feature of the adjustments made for ITC is a certain tranquillization of the rhythm of the lower case italics.