Antique Olive is a classy and modern sans serif font that was created by Roger Excoffon in 1962 and released by URW Type Foundry GmbH. However, the typeface is way too eccentric and distinctive to ever become a rival for Helvetica and Univers or any other neutral and versatile linear sans serif. Its x-height is very large, and there is plenty of contrast where curves meet stems. On top of that, the ‘s’ seems to be upside down. These distinctive details make Antique Olive quite different from any pure linear sans serif. Sans Serif translates to Antique in French and so the name Antique Olive was found. Excoffon designed a new logo for Air France back then, and the lettering formed the basis for the complete Antique Olive typeface design.
Antique Olive is still quite popular, obviously especially in France, although it is not that easy to set type with it. It is not really good for lengthy text copy but rather ideal for large headlines, ads, and posters. It can be set tight and even very tight without compromising legibility or optical quality. A company logo giving birth to the typeface design as well as Antique Olive’s character shapes seem to make it particularly well suited for logos and letterings of that kind. Its advantages, namely its strength of character and its distinctiveness, are its disadvantages at the same time comparing it to Helvetica, Univers, and alike.
This font is free for personal use and No Commercial use is Allowed! If you want to use it for your Commercial purposes, you should purchase its Commercial license HERE.
Antique Olive Sans Serif Font
Postscript type name: Antique-Olive
Font subfamily identification:
Font tags: Sans Serif, Basic
Unique identifier:
Font Version:
Trademark notice:
License: Free for Personal Use
Designer, Publisher: URW Type Foundry GmbH
