Prospera was designed without reference to existing roman faces. In its initial form, development was partially supported by a grant from the National Endowment for the Arts (Design Project Grant), as a design for use on 'low-res' digital output devices. Early releases had simplified detail in cross-bars and serifs, and hand-tuned bitmaps.

As an original design, Prospera draws on principles of letterform developed during my studies of lettercarving (in Wales with Ieuan Rees) and Roman proportion.

The design is idiosyncratic, perhaps more akin to Gill’s Perpetua than to the monotonous corporate flavors so prevalent today.