Italian poet and author, Francesco Pastonchi was commissioned to produce a new edition of the Italian Classics but was unable to find types which satisfied his needs. He decided to embark on designing a new typeface, assisted by Professor Eduardo Cotti at the Royal School of Typography in Torino. Early printed works, manuscripts and inscriptions were carefully studied before drawings were presented to Monotype for matrix production. A process of careful refinement of the design was carried out in the Monotype Type Drawing Office before the typeface was ready for manufacture. Pastonchi is a Venetian style face with a fresh, almost exotic appearance, ideally suited to classical works such as poetry and short stories. The Pastonchi font family has beautiful character shapes that also make excellent display and advertising copy.