ITC Didi Typeface Revival

Tom Carnase is a typographic virtuoso best known for his superlative work with graphic design legend Herb Lubalin during the 1970s and 80s, when they ran a New York studio together and created iconic work for clients like PBS, Saks Fifth Avenue, and Pepsi.

During this period, Carnase also designed dozens of successful typefaces, including Avant Garde Gothic, Grouch, and Pioneer, all of which have experienced a revival of interest in the last few years.

One of Carnase’s most elegant and refined typeface designs was ITC Didi, which was based on the Didone typefaces of the late 17th century. Carnase added elements of English Modern type designs, such as flared bracketing and exaggerated ball terminals, along with a higher x-height that made Didi excel in display sizes.  ITC Didi was released in the early 1970s and began appearing, among other places,  in noteworthy work from Lubalin’s studio and by Massimo Vignelli. 

In the decades that followed, ITC Didi was never digitized, so there was no version available to present-day designers using computers and publishing software like Adobe InDesign and Illustrator.

For years I’ve been a huge fan of  Carnase’s and Lubalin’s work, and I wished there was a version of Didi I could use in my own design projects. So I encouraged type designer Jason Walcott to create a digital homage to Didi that we named Domani, which is the Italian word for “tomorrow.”  Jason’s re-creation is an beautiful typeface which expresses equal measures of  grace, refinement and flair. It includes several additional glyphs not available in Didi (such an alternative ampersand and several swash characters), and some of the most beautiful numerals you will ever see in any font.