Designed in 1935 by William Addison Dwiggins, Electra has been a standard book typeface since its release because of its evenness of design and high legibility. More…

In the specimen book for Electra, Dwiggins himself points out the type’s identifying characteristics: “The weighted top serifs of the straight letters of the lower case: that is a thing that occurs when you are making formal letters with a pen, writing quickly. And the flat way the curves get away from the straight stems: that is a speed product.” Electra is not only a fine text face but is equally responsive when set at display sizes, realizing Dwiggins’ intent when he set about the design: “...if you don’t get your type warm it will be just a smooth, commonplace, third-rate piece of good machine technique, no use at all for setting down warm human ideas, just a box full of rivets.... I’d like to make it warm, so full of blood and personality that it would jump at you.”