Designed in 1975 by Tony Stan, ITC Cheltenham is a revival based on a turn-of-the-century design by architect Bertram Grosvenor Goodhue. Typefaces from that period were often thin and anemic in appearance, and Cheltenham was created as an alternative; the original Cheltenham was designed with long ascenders and short descenders as a result of legibility studies indicating that the eye identifies letters by scanning their tops. ITC Cheltenham combines heavier stroke weights with condensed proportions and a large x-height to provide a legible, unusual text type.