We first spotted Estragon’s starting point while scrolling on the Type Foundries Archive Twitter account @typeTFA, noticing a spread later identified as part of Harrild & Sons’ New & Abridged Specimens of Wood-letter, Corners, Borders, &c (circa 1890). Unfortunately, no more characters or information on the design could be found; one librarian at the St Bride Foundation in London suggested it might be an example of the ornamental headline wood types that typographers in the late 19th century would often offer to clients as an additional freebie. We redrew the design for contemporary eyes in 2017, adding three distinctive styles—Wildstyle, Arrow, and Bubble—that can be freely combined at the level of individual characters. Sam de Groot first used the typeface for the identity of Condo New York, describing it aptly as “Schwitters-meets-Wildstyle.” While Matthew Carter once said that “a typeface is a beautiful collection of letters, not a collection of beautiful letters,” Estragon begs to...
