Carter Sans nods to other typefaces of its kind (Berthold Wolpe’s Albertus chief among them) but, more often than not, makes it up as it goes along. The proportions and construction of the characters are industrial – more Verdana than Trajan – which sets it apart from the rest of its “flare serif” ilk. There are also little moments that attract me to this typeface: the ‘9’ that doesn’t connect at the stem, the counter of the ‘a’ that isn’t symmetric with the outside of the stroke, the ‘J’ with its top stroke. None of these are expected from such a typeface, but they are more than welcome.

What I like the most about Carter Sans, however, is the modern approach to the construction of its capitals. Their squarish proportions are perfect for making grand proclamations. These letters are most at home when carved into the stone of a 19th century cathedral, or cast in lead, coated with black ink, and rammed into paper by a big, sturdy, iron printing press.

When I look at the strokes of Carter Sans I am reminded of the engineering term reverse entasis, which describes a structural beam or column that has been thinned in the middle but doesn’t reduce in strength. The subtle weight variance in the strokes makes Carter seem stronger, not weaker, even at its thinnest weight.

With Carter Sans, Matthew Carter and Dan Reynolds have struck gold in an infrequently mined area of type design. What they created is a rock-solid set of four weights with lots of unique character.

Colin M. Ford is an alumnus of the Type and Media program at the Royal Academy of Art in The Hague (KABK). He is now living in New York and working at Hoefler & Frere-Jones as their Special Designer for Web Typography.

When I first saw it used as a featured face for headlines over at Typophile, I was stunned that there was just nothing wrong with it. Another Typophile user wrote: “It has that perfect, classy but neutral touch, with personality at the same time.” Kent Lew pointed out that this phrase captures “the essence of Matthew Carter’s mastery.” But I confess — heresy — that I find some of Carter’s faces just a trifle stiff in their perfection. Not Rocky. It has a touch of assertiveness and drama that is entirely appropriate to a headline face. And it is beautiful to boot. I know it’s called Rocky, but it’s really the Cary Grant of typefaces: handsome, disarmingly graceful, never rude, yet dramatic, fascinating to the eye.

A detail I particularly admire is the way Carter has handled the slightly blunted “spikes” on the terminals of the c a r s f j. Every one of them is different, and their variety of weight and design results in both beautifully even color in the text and a lively dance of shapes across the page.

William Berkson is a philosopher and type designer. His new revival of Caslon will be out soon, and with luck also his book “Avot: Ancient Wisdom for Modern Life”.