The Evolution of a Classic: Commercial Type Unveils "New Doric"

In the fast-paced world of digital typography, the balance between historical reverence and modern utility is a constant tightrope walk. For the foundry Commercial Type, this challenge has recently culminated in the release of New Doric, a project that serves as both an evolution and a refinement of their celebrated 2019 typeface, Caslon Doric. By reimagining a typeface defined by 19th-century idiosyncrasies through the lens of mid-20th-century neo-grotesque sensibilities, Commercial Type has crafted a toolset for a more corporate, streamlined era of design.

Main Facts: A Shift Toward Modernist Uniformity

At its core, New Doric represents a fundamental pivot in the design philosophy of the original Caslon Doric family. While the 2019 iteration was designed as a sprawling, eclectic superfamily—deliberately mimicking the irregular, personality-driven sans-serifs of the 1800s—New Doric seeks to harmonize these disparate elements.

The primary objective behind the development of New Doric was to create a more "normal" and uniform typeface. Paul Barnes, the lead type designer at Commercial Type, notes that while the original Caslon Doric found significant popularity, the foundry received frequent requests from users seeking a version that felt more cohesive and predictable for professional applications.

The resulting typeface is less of a radical departure and more of a "sanding down." The design team systematically removed the most jarring idiosyncrasies of the original face, opting for a restrained aesthetic that echoes the era of Folio, New Haas Grotesk, and Univers. By limiting the weight range—eschewing the extreme light and heavy styles of its predecessor—New Doric positions itself as a robust, utilitarian workhorse for the modern corporate environment.

Chronology: From Eccentric Superfamily to Corporate Standard

The trajectory of this project provides a fascinating look into the iterative nature of typeface design.

• 2019: The Birth of Caslon Doric. Commercial Type released the original family, which was characterized by a diverse range of widths—Condensed, Regular, Extended, and Wide. The intent was to capture the spirit of 19th-century grotesque typefaces, which often lacked internal consistency because they were built piece-by-piece over decades by different punchcutters.
• 2020–2021: Market Feedback. As the typeface saw wider adoption, the foundry began to catalog user feedback. Designers loved the character of Caslon Doric but struggled with its extreme personality in long-form or corporate layouts where uniformity is paramount.
• 2022: The Variable Font Catalyst. The technical push to convert the family into a variable font provided the necessary impetus for a total re-evaluation. The foundry realized that a variable font requires a level of structural consistency that the original Caslon Doric simply did not possess.
• 2023–2024: The Refinement Phase. Over the course of these two years, the team underwent the painstaking process of reconciling the flat-sided condensed widths with the rounder, more open extended widths, ensuring a seamless transition across the variable axis.
• 2024: The Launch of New Doric. The final product was released, serving as a "corporate-ready" counterpart to the original, signaling a new chapter for the design.

Supporting Data: Technical Considerations and Design Thinking

Designing a typeface that bridges two distinct eras—the 19th-century grotesque and the 20th-century neo-grotesque—is an exercise in mathematical and aesthetic precision.

The Art of "Sanding"

When the designers at Commercial Type approached the "sanding" process, they had to be careful not to strip away the soul of the typeface. If they sanded too much, the font would lose its identity and become just another generic neo-grotesque. The design team focused on maintaining specific glyph shapes that hinted at the Caslon heritage while standardizing the stroke terminals and aperture sizes.

Navigating the Variable Axis

One of the most significant technical hurdles was the transition between the extreme widths. In a variable font, the interpolation—the mathematical movement between the thinnest and widest glyphs—must be fluid. Because the condensed weights in the original were built with flat sides, and the extended weights were naturally rounder, the "in-between" stages often looked awkward or distorted. The design team had to manually adjust the anchor points in the intermediate weights to create an optical illusion of consistency, a process that consumed a substantial portion of the development timeline.

Weight Constraints

Unlike the original family, which spanned a massive range of weights, New Doric is a curated collection. By omitting the "super light" and "super heavy" styles, the foundry has essentially focused the family on the "sweet spot" of readability. This decision reflects a data-driven approach: most corporate clients utilize the middle-weight range (Regular through Bold) for 90% of their communication needs.

Official Responses: Insights from Paul Barnes

In reflecting on the project, Paul Barnes emphasizes that the design process was characterized by a lack of external pressure, which was both a blessing and a burden.

"Without a specific client, the project perhaps dragged on longer than any of us would have wanted," Barnes admits. This lack of a hard deadline allowed for a level of obsessive refinement that is rarely possible in commission-based work. Regarding the resulting character of the typeface, Barnes remains optimistic about the coexistence of the two families.

"We think that while New Doric offers something different, it retains enough of the character of Caslon Doric without becoming too bland," he states. "I don’t think New Doric will stop Caslon Doric being the right choice for many designers, and vice versa."

This response highlights the foundry’s philosophy: that typefaces are not binary. They are tools in a kit. Caslon Doric remains the loud, historical, and idiosyncratic choice for expressive design, while New Doric provides the quiet, disciplined, and functional support required for contemporary branding.

Implications: The Future of Sans-Serif Design

The release of New Doric signals a broader trend in typography: the movement toward "smart" fonts that prioritize technical performance without sacrificing stylistic DNA.

The Corporate Shift

As corporate identities become increasingly digital-first, the need for fonts that render perfectly on high-DPI screens at small sizes is paramount. New Doric is perfectly positioned to serve as the backbone for companies that want a "human" feel to their brand without the baggage of Victorian-era eccentricity.

The Variable Font Revolution

New Doric is a prime example of how variable font technology is changing the way designers work. By integrating the entire family into a single file, designers gain granular control over the weight and width, allowing for responsive typography that adjusts to the screen size of the user. This project demonstrates that the future of type is not just about the static shapes of letters, but about the mathematical fluidity of their interactions.

Preserving Heritage

By explicitly referencing the 1950s—the golden age of the Swiss neo-grotesque—Commercial Type is also engaging in a form of typographic preservation. They are acknowledging that while we may want the cleanliness of Univers, we still crave the history of the 19th-century woodblock posters. New Doric manages to marry these two seemingly contradictory worlds.

Conclusion

The evolution of Caslon Doric into New Doric is a masterclass in professional typeface development. It proves that a foundry’s relationship with its work does not end at the initial release. Instead, through user feedback, technical innovation, and a willingness to revisit one’s own history, a typeface can evolve to meet the shifting demands of the modern world.

Whether one prefers the raw, eccentric energy of the original Caslon Doric or the refined, corporate polish of New Doric, the success of this project lies in the choice it provides. Commercial Type has not replaced a classic; they have merely provided a new way to read it. As design environments continue to favor clarity and efficiency, New Doric is poised to become a staple of modern digital communication, proving that sometimes, in order to move forward, one must be willing to sand down the edges of the past.