Madison Antiqua

An Ad Man’s serif from the swinging 60’s – Madison Antiqua

Madison Antiqua™ was original released as a metal typeface for hand setting in 1965. The letters were produced by D. Stempel AG in Frankfurt, Germany. Their design was based heavily on an earlier German typeface named Amts-Antiqua, which had also been produced by Stempel. Amts-Antiqua is credited to Heinrich Wilhelm Hoffmeister, and he developed it between 1909 and 1919.

Madison Antiqua is an excellent selection for body text in magazines and newspapers. The typeface features a characteristic x-height, and attention-grabbing serifs. For a time, Madison Antiqua was associated with advertising design, because of its namesake: Madison Avenue in New York. Madison Avenue is a global center of advertising excellence.