We are thrilled to announce that Guyot Text and Headline were selected for The Other Collection’s exclusive edition of Any Human Heart. The Intimate Journals of Logan Mountstuart. This beloved 2002 novel by Ghanese author William Boyd, which was nominated for the prestigious Booker Prize, offers an inventive, funny, and playful history of the twentieth century. Any Human Heart is the fourth publication to join The Other Collection.

The Other Collection publishes contemporary literature in limited-edition, exquisitely designed, and impeccably printed and bound volumes, using only the finest materials. Celebrated graphic and information designer Erik Spiekermann designs and typesets all of the titles in the collection. The typeface selection goes through a rigorous process. Instead of having a one-size-fits-all solution for the series, Spiekermann carefully considers the typographic minutiae for each volume. He not only identifies which typeface has the perfect typographic voice to carry the author’s text, but also takes into account type size, margins, and number of lines per page, turning the books into exquisite experiences in immersive reading. Each book in The Other Collection is a unique Gesamtkunstwerk, a convergence of artistic and technical excellence, from design and typesetting to printing and binding.

Arguing that the reading process has barely changed since the late fifteenth century, Spiekermann favors contemporary typefaces modeled after traditional designs. He found the perfect match for Logan Mountstuart’s fantastic tale—as recounted by William Boyd—in our Guyot Text. And there is an additional conceptual layer to Spiekermann’s choice of Guyot: Logan Mountstuart’s story starts in Montevideo, across the River Plate from Buenos Aires, where Ramiro Espinoza is originally from.

Guyot is inspired by the faces of François Guyot, a lesser-known French punchcutter. Espinoza first came across his work while studying type design at the Plantin Institute in Antwerp, the Belgian city where Guyot operated in the sixteenth century. At Retype, antique types are never simply digitized. Instead, letterforms are thoroughly analyzed to determine what made them look the way they do. Our guiding principle is simple: How would the typeface turn out if its designer had modern-day design tools and production means at their disposal? Guyot combines the elegance of the historic model with contemporary efficiency.

The family offers a titling face and two eminently legible cuts optimized for small sizes: Guyot Text and Guyot Press. Spiekermann selected Guyot Text to typeset the body copy and deployed the refined Guyot Headline for the larger type. Guyot allowed Spiekermann to use size-specific designs while staying within one typographic signature. Another defining factor in Spiekermann’s choice of Guyot is its striking Italic. With traces of handwriting in discretionary ligatures like as, es, is, ct, and st, Guyot Italic displays just the right amount of elegance and gusto. It efficiently (and effortlessly) distinguishes the comments between the sections of the story. The built-in swashes and other embellishments prove a perfect match for the wide range of Boyd and his main protagonist Mountstuart’s imagination.
Erik Spiekermann’s well-considered choice of Guyot for the fourth volume in The Other Collection demonstrates the type family’s value as a comprehensive typographic solution for editorial design and beyond. Its timeless appeal makes it a versatile suite of typefaces that performs well in both traditional and contemporary contexts.