Malik wrote on 2021-05-04, 03:42:

Hi, does anyone know if there are known free fonts (or closely resemble them) that are used in the AD&D Gold Box manuals, like Champions or Death Knights of Krynn?

Thank you for any information.

For posterity, the font used in the manual is Friz Quadrata, owned by ITC. I saw it for sale while writing this message - $26USD in 2024.

I couldn't find any good free alternatives, so I just bought the font for my own little project. There are plenty of decent serif fonts out there, but I couldn't find a good free font that shared its feeling.

I asked ChatGPT 4o to describe it for me, which might be useful for other searchers in the future:

Friz Quadrata is a typeface that is both distinctive and classic, making it somewhat challenging to describe without technical terms. Here's how you can describe it more precisely:

• Serif Typeface: Friz Quadrata has serifs, which are the small lines or strokes attached to the ends of the letters.
• Transitional to Modern: Its style is between transitional and modern serif designs, characterized by relatively high contrast between thick and thin strokes, but not as extreme as a modern serif.
• Square-ish Proportions: The typeface has a slightly squared-off appearance, with compact and well-defined shapes.
• Open Counters with Unique Gaps: The lower-case letters (e.g., "a," "d," "q," "p") have open counters (the enclosed spaces inside letters) with distinctive gaps, giving them a more open and airy appearance.
• Thick Strokes: The typeface has relatively thick strokes overall, making it appear bold even at smaller weights.
• Sharp, Angular Terminals: The serifs and strokes have sharp, angular terminals rather than rounded or bracketed ones.
• Geometric Design Elements: Friz Quadrata incorporates geometric tendencies, with well-defined curves and symmetrical structures in its letterforms.
• Historical Aesthetic: It has a classic, almost heraldic feel, often associated with formal and prestigious uses, such as logos, titles, or signage.

And this is the first paragraph from its Wikipedia page (if you're here from a future without Wikipedia, it was the last bastion of the free Internet!)

Friz Quadrata is a glyphic serif typeface designed by Ernst Friz and Victor Caruso for Visual Graphics Corporation in 1965. VGC worked with the International Typeface Corporation to create an additional, bold weight. It is currently (as of 2024, anyway) available from the ITC and Linotype foundries. Because of its level of detail and graphic weight, it is often used as a display font, for short texts and headlines.

Sources:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Friz_Quadrata
ChatGPT
My Curse of the Azure Bonds manual

Great. Thanks!

(Though, the first search result with that font name brought up a free downloadable website.)

That is an interesting looking typeface. It bears some similarities to some other serif typefaces, but does have some unique looking elements in how it deals with lowercase A's, B's, D's, P's, and Q's. In most serif typefaces these elements are closed, but in this one they are stylistically open. I can't readily place another family that does this that is a serif. (Many sans-serif faces use this approach, but this seems to be an anachronistic style that is not popular in the modern era. The year of origin for this font is 1965, which would explain this anachronism. Granted, serif typefaces in general tend toward being anachronistic, with sans-serifs being more popular and readily used in modern publications and signage.)

I think this stylistic choice was done specifically to approximate the aesthetic "Feel" of lead-block typefaces used in early printing processes, and likely is why it has a specific feel for SSI manuals (which deal with medieval fantasy subject matter).

Some authentic, vintage lead-block typefaces might have unencumbered digital versions with similar aesthetic qualities. I'll look.

OK, while not bearing the stylistic openings of the font in question, the typeface used in this august bit of 1600s literature is of a similar typographic nature. It is ALSO sufficiently *OLD AS HELL* (1685, to be precise), that even the most draconian of German typography copyright restrictions would not be applicable, so I can utilize this bit of literature to construct a suitably unemcumbered typeface.

https://collections.carli.illinois.edu/digita … by_dig/id/2420/

It will at least give me something to do.

Malik wrote on 2024-12-28, 07:14:

Great. Thanks!

(Though, the first search result with that font name brought up a free downloadable website.)

“Able to download it for free” and “it’s free” have subtly different meanings.

ChrisTOTG wrote on 2024-12-29, 18:30:

Malik wrote on 2024-12-28, 07:14:

Great. Thanks!

(Though, the first search result with that font name brought up a free downloadable website.)

“Able to download it for free” and “it’s free” have subtly different meanings.

Anyway, seems like this is not the exact fonts I am looking for. Although seems close :

Hmm, I think you're right. How do you feel about ITC Benguiat Pro Book instead?

When you view the font with ligatures enabled, you can see the "ffi" is a pretty good match!

Having said that though, I'm absolutely certain that Friz Quadrata has been used. Maybe in other D&D products from that era?

(hmm, it's not quite right either - lower-case 'b' glyph isn't the same. I'll keep hunting because now I'm annoyed enough to manually trigger my ADHD hyperfocus)

Malik wrote on 2024-12-30, 02:14:

the exact fonts

I reached out to the graphic designer who created the booklets, and he said this:

We used Benguiat a lot, but also Friz Quadrata and Post Antiqua for text. The AD&D logo looks like Friz Quadrata Bold and the game title looks like Benguiat Bold Italic.

So there you go, both were used but the text really was Benguiat.

ChrisTOTG wrote on 2025-01-13, 19:56:

I reached out to the graphic designer who created the booklets, and he said this: […]
Show full quote

Malik wrote on 2024-12-30, 02:14:

the exact fonts

I reached out to the graphic designer who created the booklets, and he said this:

We used Benguiat a lot, but also Friz Quadrata and Post Antiqua for text. The AD&D logo looks like Friz Quadrata Bold and the game title looks like Benguiat Bold Italic.

So there you go, both were used but the text really was Benguiat.

Thanks a lot for your effort! Yes, Benguiat looks closer to the manuals.

PS. Also, if you don't mind, can you please take a look at this thread too? For the fonts used in the original Monkey Island 1 game manual. - [Answered] Name of the fonts used in Manuals of SOMI and Champions of Krynn (thanks)

Now able to apply the fonts for my whole Debian desktop :