Created by Isabelle Hankinson

An elegant, Didone serif resurrected from a 19th century French-Italian gravestone.

Devota originates from a stone-carved type specimen located on a floor tomb in Santa Croce Basilica, in Florence, Italy. This gravestone, tucked away in a secluded corner of tombs, contains a well-preserved type specimen detailing the death of Isabelle Margeurite-Hedwige de Garriod, memorialized down to the final minute of expiration.

The original characters exude bespoken elegance, with dramatic tapering and abrupt horizontal serifs. In response to these extraordinary letterforms and the significance of their purpose, Devota seeks to reflect and revitalize this specimen of the past as a typeface both delicate and strong. Exquisitely resilient against the tests of time.

Devota, meaning devoted, is just that; a steadfast typeface that is dedicated to the artisan who carved the original forms, to the lost story of the woman the letters were carved for, and to the new stories it will now be used to tell in the future.