Through his role at the University Press, Orcutt made contact with prominent authors such as Mary Baker Eddy, whose books he continued to publish throughout her career.

[3] During Orcutt's tenure at the press, he worked to change the nature of printing "from a contracting to a manufacturing business", believing that this "rais[ed] the quality of the so-called 'trade' volumes".

In an important review article first published in a special issue of the International Studio magazine and then republished in 1914 in a book-length collection, Orcutt surveyed the recent history of "The Art of the Book in America".

[9] Orcutt traveled to Italy to study typographic history and developed a friendship with Guido Biagi, Director of the Laurentian Library,[10] who directed his interest to Renaissance Italian lettering.

[14] Orcutt's Humanistic was adapted by the British foundry Stephenson Blake as Bologna in 1946, which in turn became American Type Founders' Verona (with lining figures) in 1951.