Editing Optima (section)

==Optima nova (2002)==
[[File:Optima nova specimen.svg|thumb|A specimen image of Optima Nova showing its italic, stylistic alternates and condensed weights]]
"Optima nova" is a redesign of the original font family, designed by Hermann Zapf and [[Mergenthaler Linotype Company|Linotype]] GmbH type director Akira Kobayashi.<ref name="Berry">{{cite web|last1=Berry|first1=John D.|title=Optima nova — A New Take on Timeless Face|url=http://creativepro.com/dot-font-optima-nova-new-take-on-timeless-face/|website=Creative Pro|date=3 November 2003 |access-date=15 June 2016}}</ref><ref name="Optima nova issuu">{{cite web|title=Optima nova|url=https://issuu.com/Linotype/docs/optima_nova_brochure|website=issuu|date=17 September 2012 |publisher=Linotype}}</ref> The new family contains seven font weights, adding light, demi, and heavy font weights, but removing extra black weight. Medium weight is readjusted to between medium and bold weights in the old family scale. Glyph sets are expanded to include Adobe CE and Latin Extended characters, with light to bold weight fonts supporting proportional lining figures, old style figures, and small caps.

The initial and most common release of Optima, like many sans-serif fonts, has an [[oblique type|oblique]] style instead of an [[italic type|italic]]: the shapes are merely tilted to the right. In Optima nova, this is replaced by a true italic. (In interviews, Zapf has said that this was his original goal from the beginning, but the need to release Optima quickly forced him to settle for an oblique.)

Even in Roman fonts, letters such as Q, a, f are redesigned. The overall bounding boxes were widened in Optima nova.

Reviewing it, John Berry wrote that "its [[Type color|'color']] on the page comes much closer to that of the original metal version than any of the earlier photo/digital versions did" but that "ends of the strokes in the letters 'a', 'c', and 's' flare much more dramatically than they ever did in the older Optima — so much so that these letters almost look as though they have serifs...It’s a subtle difference, but it’s disturbing if you’re used to the understated elegance of Optima’s letterforms."<ref name="Berry" />

===Optima nova Condensed===
A condensed variant which consists of light to bold weights, but no italic fonts. The glyph set does not support proportional lining figures, old style figures, or small caps.

===Optima nova Titling===
A [[titling capitals]] variant, which contains only capital letters, with restyled letterform. The glyph set is the same as "Optima nova Condensed", but also includes extra ligatures. Berry writes in his review of the "nova" release: "it has softly curved joins and interior angles. Instead of the added crispness of detail that you might expect of a face designed for display use, this one looks more sculptural."<ref name="Berry" />

In the tradition of hand lettering and lapidary inscription, the titling face shares similarities with the work of Zapf's friend [[Herb Lubalin]], especially the exuberant ligatures (for which Lubalin's ITC Lubalin Graph and ITC Avant Garde are notable). Further influence of [[A.M. Cassandre]] and [[Rudolf Koch]], whose work greatly inspired the young Zapf, can also be seen in Optima.