Iconic Conjuring memories of chunky typefaces from the late-60s and early-70s, and named after the world’s greatest footballer of that and probably any other era, FS Pele is one of a set of Fontsmith fonts designed specifically for headlines and other prominent applications. “We wanted to create fonts that could be integral to the design of posters, album covers and magazines,” says Jason Smith. Welcome to FS Pele, iconic, like its namesake (though, perhaps, a little less nimble). Big Pele, little Pele There was only one Pele. But there are two sizes of FS Pele. FS Pele One, with the finer counters and details, adds considerable weight and style at large sizes, especially in big block headlines on posters. FS Pele Two’s thicker “slots” make it a better choice for smaller-sized text. A load of blocks FS Pele began as an exercise by Phil Garnham in turning squares into legible letters, via the least means necessary. The idea extended his ideas about logo-making, and the search for a stamp-like brand mark that lends authority, stability and instant identification. “The thought that the type was a 2D/3D jigsaw of slotted, architectural pieces was almost an after-thought. I wanted to create a strong, stacking, block aesthetic for the most contemporary poster design. “At the time there were a lot of designers creating their own versions of the same thing but I wanted to take the blocker forms to the next step, and infer a more legible text without sacrificing the idea.”

Timeless imperfection FS Meridian is a rhythmic geometric grotesque which takes inspiration from the precise yet imperfect nature of time. There are 24 hours in a day. 60 minutes in an hour. 60 seconds in a minute. Well, almost. The Earth’s orbit isn’t a perfect circle – and nor is the Earth itself. Each day varies a few dozen seconds and up to 16 minutes each year. Look closer and time is more flexible than we think. Geometry with a twist From a geometric base, FS Meridian’s rounded forms veer and extend, creating unexpected humanistic shapes – while the straight terminals remain reliably rigid. This combination of forms gives this grotesque sans serif a pleasingly dynamic rhythm, every time it’s read. Added quirks The unconventional character of rigid terminals and ink traps are balanced with emphasized extended forms to develop visual differentiation. Designed by Kristina Jandová, the complete family has been carefully crafted with distinguishing marks. Take a look at the cap ‘Q’ which comes with three alternative options. Deliciously loopy FS Meridian has a wide geometric, mono-liner appearance with humanistic elements. Quirky individual touches like the loopy expressive pound sign help the typeface to stand out. Available in five weights, FS Meridian is both timeless and timely, a distinctive font for all screens and surfaces.

Developer-friendly The studio has developed a wide array of weights for FS Untitled – 12 in all, in roman and italic – with the intention of meeting every on-screen need. All recognisably part of a family, each weight brings a different edge or personality to headline or body copy. There’s more. Type on screen has a tendency to fill in or blow so for each weight, there’s the choice of two marginally different versions, allowing designers and developers to go up or down a touch in weight. They’re free to use the font at any size on any background colour without fear of causing optical obstacles. And to make life even easier for developers, the 12 weight pairs have each been designated with a number from 100 (Thin) to 750 (Bold), corresponding to the system used to denote font weight in CSS code. Selecting a weight is always light work. Easy on the pixels ‘It’s a digital-first world,’ says Jason Smith, ‘and I wanted to make something that was really functional for digital brands’. FS Untitled was made for modern screens. Its shapes and proportions, x-height and cap height were modelled around the pixel grids of even low-resolution displays. So there are no angles in the A, V and W, just gently curving strokes that fit, not fight, with the pixels, and reduce the dependency on font hinting. Forms are simplified and modular – there are no spurs on the r or d, for example – and the space between the dot of the i and its stem is larger than usual. The result is a clearer, more legible typeface – functional but with bags of character. Screen beginnings FS Untitled got its start on the box. Its roots lie in Fontsmith’s creation of the typeface for Channel 4’s rebrand in 2005: the classic, quirky, edgy C4 headline font, with its rounded square shapes (inspired by the classic cartoon TV shape of a squidgy rectangle), and a toned-down version for use in text, captions and content graphics. The studio has built on the characteristics that made the original face so pixel-friendly: its blend of almost-flat horizontals and verticals with just enough openness and curve at the corners to keep the font looking friendly. The curves of the o, c and e are classic Fontsmith – typical of the dedication its designers puts into sculpting letterforms. Look out for… FS Untitled wouldn’t be a Fontsmith typeface if it didn’t have its quirks, some warranted, some wanton. There’s the rounded junction at the base of the E, for example, and the strong, solid contours of the punctuation marks and numerals. Notice, too, the distinctive, open shape of the A, V, W, X and Y, created by strokes that start off straight before curving into their diagonal path. Some would call the look bow-legged; we’d call it big-hearted.

A literary font FS Neruda takes its name from Chilean poet Pablo Neruda, described as “the greatest poet of the 20th century in any language”. As such, it’s a font that references the very best literary typeface traditions. Smart, sharp and classical, FS Neruda bridges the gap between the classical and the offbeat. This font started life in the world of newspapers and books and is the perfect storytelling typeface for savvy, inquiring readers whether in printed journals, hard news, short online missives or poetry. Idiosyncratic precision FS Neruda is clear and legible in body text, while also being a space-saver fitting in more characters on each line than the typefaces that inspired it. In larger sizes it becomes a different beast – livelier, quirkier, but no less sharp. This is a truly classic typeface designed with long text setting in mind, thanks to its large x-heights, and short ascenders and descenders. FS Neruda mixes suave, sharp confidence with a sense of fragility and quirkiness. It’s knowledgeable, informative and idiosyncratic; one for readers and enquiring minds. Subtle weight modifications The construction and details of the letterforms differ across each of the five weights, with each cut separately to evoke different flavours: Thin is typewriter-like, Light is classy, Regular is canonical, Bold is robust, Black is magazine-esque. FS Neruda also boasts a radiant italic companion, a wide set of small caps, lower and uppercase ligatures, case punctuation and spacing, four sets of figures, and some ageless typographic symbols such as manicules, fleurons and teardrop crosses. Suggestive simplicity “The key to success in the current type design landscape is to design a typeface which looks conventional at text sizes but has a few small, suggestive touches visible at bigger sizes that make it distinct,” says designer Pedro Arilla. “Another thing we wanted to achieve with this typeface is simplicity.” FS Neruda is available in ten carefully crafted styles: it’s designed to work perfectly at text sizes, but still glows as a display typeface.

Right now! FS Emeric reconciles a pair of seemingly opposing approaches: the systematic but chilly functionalism of early modernist typography, trapped in time, and a warmer, more emotional, more optimistic spirit. What Fontsmith created was something that marries precision with expression, geometry with movement, functionality with humanity. FS Emeric has a sharp, kinetic edge that cuts across design disciplines – graphic, fashion, product, automotive. It’s about what’s happening right now. Contemporary, optimistic, distinctive – a classic working sans serif. Appetite Discussions with some of Fontsmith’s design studio clients had revealed an appetite for a new kind of typeface that could express mid-century modernist principles in a fresh, contemporary voice. As he crafted the letterforms that would form FS Emeric, Phil Garnham was guided by two central ideas. First, there was Jan Tschichold’s contention that a good letter is “one that expresses itself, speaking with the utmost distinctiveness and clarity”. Second was a belief that a font can be personally expressive without compromising its functionality. These provided the fuel that drove the project to its conclusion. Posters To mark the launch of FS Emeric, Fontsmith asked 11 eminent design studios from around the world – the likes of Pentagram, Studio Dumbar, Bibliotheque, Non-Format and Build – to create a limited edition A1 poster. Each poster celebrated a different weight of FS Emeric, and just 50 of each were screen-printed by Dan Mather onto 175gsm Colorplan stock. “We gave away a randomly selected poster every time two or more weights of the FS Emeric were purchased,” says Phil Garnham. “They’ve now become somewhat of a collector’s item in their own right.” Superfamily In the spirit of Univers, the original font superfamily, FS Emeric now comprises 22 Roman and italic typefaces overall, making it one of the most versatile and functional modern fonts across all kinds of media, as well as one of the most distinctive.

Fs ornaments are unique modular sets of ornaments that are based on ancient patterns and medieval woodcuts. They work very well on modern layouts as well. What is more You can use them not only as ornaments but also as borders. This complexity gives you a carefully planned tool with high decorative qualities. All this depends only on your imagination! With it you can add a genuine touch of distinction to every sophisticated layout but use them carefully. The basic set is Fs ornament 1 while Fs ornament 2 is a distorted version of it. Fs ornament 3 is a woodcut underlying that could be applied underneath ornaments or without them. The usage is very simple-You type them as you normally type letters but instead you get those great decoration! Easy isn't it?

Slinky Chic, svelte and slinky, FS Sophie was inspired by and designed in partnership with ATTIK UK. With clean lines, simple, elegant curves and dynamic forms, it brings a feminine sophistication to text and headlines in publishing and advertising. Kinky FS Sophie’s engaging simplicity arises from its construction, using a modular set of core, rounded shapes and straight strokes, drawn and then repeated to create letterforms. An extra technical detail of occasional, short 45-degree diagonals adds a distinctive little kink to Sophie’s cool exterior. Alchemy By some kind of typographic alchemy, the combination of simple curves and lines with unexpected twists to the shapes of characters creates an unusually spirited and lively design in all three weights and their italic sets. Born for the spotlight, FS Sophie is a natural for big headlines, pull quotes and other high-profile text elements.

Elliptical The squareness of curves. That was the elliptical – in more than one sense – notion being explored in the making of FS Hackney. The squareness of curves and vertical terminals to create a gentle, soft sans serif, with a little bit of magic. A momentary thought – “It doesn’t have to be like this” – provided the spur to explore the verticals and skeletons of letterforms beyond conventional type design limits. A 12-month gestation period gave rise to a font with a larger-than-usual character set, including non-lining figures, small caps and superior and inferior numbers. It’s a collection that speaks confidently for itself. Assertive It was the Hackney carriage – the black London cab – that gave this font its name, not the north London neighbourhood. Solid, dependable, effective and built to last, FS Hackney was honed to perform in all conditions. Cool, compelling lines and a satisfying overall simplicity lend FS Hackney its assertive air. Assured, versatile and effective; just like a black cab (but without the grumbling). Machined Over a string of meetings, Jason Smith and FS Hackney designer Nick Job worked out how to infuse Nick’s sketched letterforms with Fontsmith’s familiar geniality. “Nick is very meticulous and produces very clean design work,” says Jason. “Hackney is ideal for branding as it’s very clear and its quirks are sensible ones, not odd ones, that don’t distract from the message.”

Trajan The original template for this one-weight, all-caps font was the inscription on Trajan’s Column, carved in AD 113 to celebrate the emperor Trajan’s victory in the Dacian Wars. College student Jason Smith copied the stone lettering from the cast on display in London’s Victoria & Albert Museum. In Roman times, the signmaker would paint letters onto stone with a wide brush for the stone mason to chisel out later. The signwriter would end each stroke with a flick of his brush, which the mason would also carve into the stone. Ecce (as they would have said in Rome): the serif was born. Hand-crafted “I first drew this typeface when I was 17,” says Jason. “I drew it with a very sharp 9H pencil on polydraw film. “Then, using a Rotring pen, I inked the letters in and scraped back the serifs so they were perfectly sharp. These letters were then reduced on a PMT camera. I’d designed my first typeface, although it wasn’t digitised till much later.” Digitised Years after Jason had drawn the original typeface, its transfer into digital form made further refinements necessary. The serifs and weights needed thickening slightly, creating a crisp, new version whose delicate elegance is best appreciated in larger sizes. A classically-inspired font, timeless and perfectly-proportioned, to reflect the refinement of premium brands.

Joy is sure to spice up your text life! She overflows with style and personality. She loves to be center stage on headlines, flirting with her readers eyes. There are over 100 ligatures, creating words with some letters connecting and others standing on their own. This creates a modern, fresh, handwritten look.

Hannah Joie was influenced by the early lettering that appeared on posters in Israel (e.g. the 1950s). The style of the lettering was bold, heavy, and prominent. Hannah Joie is an OpenType/TTF Unicode font.

Introducing our product Brishia Jodie! Connecting script, designed to convey elegance and style. It is slender, feminine and friendly. Brishia Jodie is perfect for fashion, e-commerce brands, trend blogs, or any business that wants to appear classy and chic. Brishia Jodie Includes: Uppercase, lowercase, numeral, punctuation & Symbol Stylistic alternates Stylistic Set01 - Stylistic Set02 Ligatures PUA Encoded Characters Fully accessible without additional design software. If you have any question please do not hesitate to contact me : info@sizimon.com. Thank You!

After a couple of weeks of teasing, sneak previews & insta shots, my new typeface is finally here. Noir Jolie is a modern ligature serif font that comes with curvy & straight combo of uppercase letters and chic lowercase alphabet that together look just perfect. Noir Jolie is also my last font for 2022 so I really hope you guys like it. The font also includes full language support, punctuation, numerals and detailed instructions how to use alternates & ligatures in most of the apps on your computer, as well as in Canva. I invite you to check out the preview images, and I hope you will be immersed in my vision for this creative typeface that, I am sure, will work for all kinds of interesting projects you might be working on this year. If you end up publishing your designs on Instagram, tag me - @silverstagco and I will make sure to showcase your design and work to my audience as well! Noir Jolie - Modern Ligature Serif Includes: 25+ Ligatures Numerals & Punctuation Language Support Web Font Kit is included as well Detailed instructions on how to use alternates in most of the apps on your computer as well for Canva Happy creating everyone!

The main challenge with Shirah Joie was how not to design just another monoline font, and how to add liveliness while condensing the letters a little bit. Shirah Joie is an OpenType/TTF Unicode font.

The great enigma There are hidden depths to FS Silas Sans. First impressions are of a functional, multi-purpose typeface with a cool, edgy, angular character. Gaze into its eyes a little longer, though, and you'll detect a more nuanced, colourful personality, with full, open, satisfyingly squarish forms balancing the abruptness of the sharply-angled terminals and ascenders. Authoritative, official and stern on the outside; amiable and welcoming on the inside. You’re so Dane The designers, led by Phil Garnham, were trying to capture something straight-talking, authentic, and a little... Scandinavian. ‘We were thinking about some of the characters in Danish dramas that were on in the early stages of the font’s development, like The Killing and The Bridge,’ says Phil. ‘The police officers, that is, not the psychopathic killers. Smart and a bit cool, but with a warm heart.’ For a good Danish name, we settled on Silas. It was that or Hans-Christian. The finer points Silas Sans rewards close inspection. Study, if you will, its amply squarish forms, the roomy ‘o’ and ‘e’, in particular. Observe the angular ascenders and terminals of, for example, the ‘L’, ‘I’, ‘d’ and ‘i’, inferring the movement and lift of a pen. Consider the cuts to the ‘A’ and ‘v’ that create harmony with adjacent letters. And scrutinise the subtle ink traps set within the ‘A’ and ‘Y’ for reproduction at small sizes. A fine subject, we think you’ll agree, and available in a versatile range of weights to make (with FS Silas Slab) a typographic system with a comprehensive hierarchy.

Slab-like sibling Why stop at sans? Rather than leave FS Silas Sans as an only child, the team wanted to extend the family, and create a complete system for brands and editorial. Unsure what the result would be, the team started experimenting with a slab serif version. ‘We didn’t know how it would turn out, but we really liked it and wanted to take it further. A fresh angle ‘We stuck with the angular theme of the sans by drawing angled slab serifs,’ says Phil Garnham, ‘as opposed to the square serifs that slab fonts usually have. That created an inner dynamism in words and sentences on the page, and a very distinctive, crafted character, like a Victorian soul in a contemporary body.’ These crafted touches include details such as the angled ascenders on the ‘i’ and ‘l’, while characters such as the ‘y’, with its abruptly-ending descender, add a mark of distinction. A perfect pair Silas Slab, like its sibling, offers a clear-cut range of five weights, from the elegant Thin to the monumental ExtraBold. Put it together with Silas Sans and you have the full complement, capable of performing the full range of tasks, above the line and below, in headlines, body copy and logotypes, B2B and B2C. Keep them together; they don’t like it when they’re apart.

Worldly Even though it’s a new arrival, FS Brabo has seen the world. Designed by a Brazilian working in London and studying in Belgium under a Dutchman, it’s certainly well-travelled. And it was inspired by the extraordinary archive of early book typefaces at the world-renowned Plantin-Moretus Museum in Antwerp, while Fernando Mello was attending Frank Blokland’s Expert class Type Design course at the Plantin Institute of Typography. It was there that Fernando became engrossed in the collection of early metal type, matrices, punches and type samples by figures such as Garamond and Granjon. So much so that he took on the mighty task of developing ‘a beautiful, functional, serifed text font’ of his own. Heroic FS Brabo’s journey from sketch to font family took an epic three years, starting in Antwerp, continuing at Fontsmith in London, and reaching its conclusion back in Fernando’s home city of São Paulo. No wonder Fernando was reminded of another titanic face-off: that of Antwerp’s Roman hero of legend, Silvius Brabo, and the evil ogre, Antigoon. Brabo came to the town’s rescue after the tyrannical giant had been charging ships’ captains extortionate taxes and chopping off the hands of those who refused to pay up. Having finally downed Antigoon after a long and terrible duel, Brabo cut off the giant’s own hand and threw it into the river Scheldt, unwittingly giving the town its name: the Dutch for ‘hand-throw’ is hand werpen. What better way for Fernando to name his literary typeface than after the hero of Antwerp’s oldest tale? The garalde factor FS Brabo is not a revival, but a very much a contemporary, personal interpretation of a garalde – a class of typeface originating in the 16th century that includes Bembo, Garamond and Plantin, with characteristically rounded serifs and moderate contrast between strokes. Brabo’s ‘ct’ and ‘st’ ligatures, upper-case italic swashes and contextual ending ligatures – ‘as’, ‘is’, ‘us’ – all preserve the beauty and character of traditional typefaces, but its serifs are chunkier than a garalde. Their sharp cuts and squared edges give them a crispness at text sizes, helping to bring a beautifully bookish personality to hardworking modern applications. A workhorse with pedigree It may give the appearance of a simple, four-weight typeface, but FS Brabo has hidden depths beneath its simplicity and beauty. OpenType features such as cap italic swashes, contextual ending swashes – programmed only to appear at the end of words – and stylistic alternatives make this a complete and well-equipped typeface. Comprehensive testing was carried out at text and display sizes, too, to prevent counters from filling in. All of which makes FS Brabo a very modern take on a traditional workhorse serif typeface: colourful and versatile enough to adorn not just editorial projects but also signage, advertising and logotypes.

Antwerp On a visit to Belgium and the Netherlands while still an MA student at Reading University, Eleni Beveratou made some important discoveries. First, there was the letter ‘g’ from the Didot family seen at Plantin Moretus Museum in Antwerp, which seemed “almost like a mistake”. Then there were strange details such as the serifs on the “l”, “h”, “k”, “b” 
and “d” in Egmont Cursive and other typefaces by Sjoerk Hendrik de Roos, found in volumes of poetry she picked up from a chaotic bookshop in Amsterdam. These were characters that stood out from the text but seemed to blend harmoniously with the rest 
of the letters. “And there it was, the spark. 
I decided to design a typeface that would capture the details of the process of writing.” A guiding hand Eleni shared her initial thoughts with Phil Garnham and Jason Smith. They liked what they saw in her tentative first sketches, and gave her the chance to develop her ideas further. Phil, in particular, provided valuable input as FS Olivia took shape. Eleni’s main influence – the handwritten – would give the font its character. “When creating a typeface,” says Eleni, “it’s fair to say that it reflects some of the designer’s personality. And that’s certainly the case with 
FS Olivia. “Although technology is part of my everyday life. I am a great admirer of traditional graphic design where you can touch and feel paper and ink.” Irregular “What I particularly like,” says Eleni, “is that a printed item can develop its own personality sometimes as a result of imperfections in the print. “FS Olivia has some of 
these characteristics as it’s inspired by handwriting, 
and yet it also includes some 
very modern features.” Feminine and fascinating, FS Olivia captures the expressive twists and turns of (the poet’s?) pen on paper, with low junctions, 
deep top serifs and semi-rounded edges. Round outstrokes contrast with 
the rough corners of the instroke, while strong diagonals and inclined serifs create a richly textured pattern. Polytonic It’s only fitting that there should be a version of this poetic font for one of the birthplaces of poetry and song. Eleni, who hails from Athens, developed an extensive range of glyphs that could be used for the Greek language, in both modern and ancient texts. For the latter, there is a version of Olivia for displaying polytonic Greek (a system that utilises a range of accents and “breathings”), which brings the 21st century technology of OpenType to the presentation of poetic texts from Ancient Greece. Just think what Homer could have done with that.

New York to London via Europe The hardworking FS Koopman is a crossbred workhorse which draws inspiration from Swiss and Germanic grotesks, American gothics and early British grotesques, but refuses to fit neatly into any of these categories. Its neither one nor the other, but all of the above. Fontsmith designers Andy Lethbridge and Stuart de Rozario decided to take the characteristics they admired from each category and distill them down into one functional family. Neo meets Neue FS Koopman aims to swim against the tide of Helvetica-ish derivatives by bringing some personality and soul to a genre that all too often ends up feeling bland and sterile. FS Koopman subtly embraces the quirkiness and charm often seen in early twentieth century designs but pairs this with the functionality of later pioneers of the genre. It’s a grotesque isn’t it? The term grotesque surfaced around the early 1800s and refers to the early sans serif designs that many initially believed were strange or ‘grotesque’ due to their lack of elegant serifs. Later variations became known as neo-grotesques and this moniker stuck around even after they gained mass popularity. Some American variants became known as gothics. FS Koopman takes cues from all three categories and blends them into one cohesive design.

Bookish A little bit bookish, but quietly elegant and well-proportioned, FS Sally is a graceful font family. It’s a refreshingly uncomplicated design that brings sophistication to text and display type, and a distinctive aplomb to both large and small volumes of text. Hidden talents There’s more to FS Sally than meets the eye. Choose Standard for the Latin alphabet or Pro if you work with Cyrillic and Greek typography. There’s a large range of special features, including elegant small caps and a set of discretionary ligatures to add a traditional flavour to figures and fraction sets. Rhythmic There’s a rhythm and flow to FS Sally – the result of the classic but asymmetric design of its serifed feet and shoulders. The inward curve of the serif at the shoulder and the outward curve at the foot subliminally guide the eye through each letterform, and the flicked feet of the “a”, “d” and “u” add an extra kick of energy to the rhythm. The italic forms have their own flow, too, with a pen-like fluency that retains the formal discipline required for a text type. Regular to heavy FS Sally’s five weights, all with italics, cover every kind of print application. The regular weight is elegant in display and an easy read in longer texts. A subtle step up from the regular is the medium, which was created to deliver a stronger colour and finish in poorer printing conditions. The semibold offers a strong alternative to the regular at smaller sizes, and its intermediate feel suits it to sub-headings, title pages and calmer designs. The bold works excellently in book and title headings, and FS Sally Heavy lends weight and punch to poster headlines and logotypes.

Changing nature of work FS Industrie is an extraordinarily versatile new type system, with 70 variants built around five different widths and seven different weights. Type in the future will be increasingly variable, and FS Industrie is specifically designed to address the changing needs of brands. As more of the things we make exist primarily in a digital space, so our need to create type that can adapt within that space grows. It is the spirit of variable design, adaptation and flexibility that drove us to create FS Industrie. A typeface for future work in a future world. FS Industrie is a response to the changing nature of type, for brands that are responding to the changing nature of work. Industrial style Stylistically, FS Industrie feels direct and simple without sacrificing its humanity. It takes inspiration from German fonts of the 1930s, with their roots in manufacturing and signage. A classic sense of functional utility combined with a progressive view of where type is heading. Expressions in width A fundamental challenge with variable type is to ensure that craft and precision is preserved at every interval. Each width and weight is drawn by hand, with subtle variations in terminals and angles as you progress through the system. This ensures each variant can play to its unique strengths, while also pairing perfectly with its siblings. From the closed terminals of the Condensed and the open terminals of the Extended. FS Industrie is a design system that maintains a practical, grounded and robust tone throughout every variable style. Variable nature The 70 styles offer a range of expression. Each width contrasts with the next to clearly define typographic roles in graphic layouts. Every glyph is crafted with adaptability and scalability in mind, creating a pliable design space for the user. The proportions of each letterform flex as weight scales up, stem weights increase as letter width broadens. These subtle design changes create an optically consistent visual impression.

Rooted Rooted in 1960s Brit modernism and infused with a fresh, contemporary spirit, FS Elliot is a future-proof, workhorse sans serif, well-suited to any assignment. Open and harmonious, its clear, fluid shapes lend words a distinctive and optimistic bounce. Britishness FS Elliot came out of a desire to create something squarely in the British modernist tradition, drawing on influences such as Design Research Unit’s portfolio of type for famous British brands and products, and Margaret Calvert and Jock Kinneir’s work on the British road sign system. Nick Job took the openness and simplicity of that style and injected warmth and wide appeal, coming up with a highly practical, multi-purpose family of faces. Enduring appeal “The great thing about having an eye on the future,” says designer Nick Job, “is that most of it is unknown. It’s what encourages us to take risks. And it leaves an uncertainty which, I believe, gives the best work its enduring appeal.” FS Elliot is available in a Pro version with full language support and a full range of Roman, Cyrillic and Greek weights.

Brother To create a truly global font family, FS Albert needed an Arabic script sibling. Emanuela Conidi set about the delicate task of creating an alphabet to harmonise visually with its Latin sans serif counterpart so that the two could be used side-by-side in bilingual publications. Working with the Kufic style of script, with its simpler, geometric forms, Emanuela sculpted letters with the a similar optical size, weight and rhythm as FS Albert, with open counters and monolinear strokes. It never hurts to Naskh But there’s more to FS Albert than a simple, geometric structure. To match Albert’s cheery, charming character, FS Albert Arabic needed an injection of warmth and informality. Emanuela incorporated some of the more expressive, calligraphic shapes of the Naskh script style, which lent the letterforms a looser, softer, more handwritten quality, while remaining functional and structured. The Naskh influence is most noticeable in the bowl of characters such as Jim, Qaf and Nun, in the curved tail of Waw and Reh, and the deep joining of Tah. Follow the script The end result is an Arabic script that’s the perfect partner to FS Albert: open counters, monolinear strokes and a friendly, rounded appearance. FS Albert Arabic is available in Opentype format, in five weights from Thin to ExtraBold. It supports Persian and Urdu, with proportional and tabular numerals for both, plus full vocalisation and the Hijra feature.

Timeless imperfection FS Meridian is a rhythmic geometric grotesque which takes inspiration from the precise yet imperfect nature of time. There are 24 hours in a day. 60 minutes in an hour. 60 seconds in a minute. Well, almost. The Earth’s orbit isn’t a perfect circle – and nor is the Earth itself. Each day varies a few dozen seconds and up to 16 minutes each year. Look closer and time is more flexible than we think. Geometry with a twist From a geometric base, FS Meridian’s rounded forms veer and extend, creating unexpected humanistic shapes – while the straight terminals remain reliably rigid. This combination of forms gives this grotesque sans serif a pleasingly dynamic rhythm, every time it’s read. Added quirks The unconventional character of rigid terminals and ink traps are balanced with emphasized extended forms to develop visual differentiation. Designed by Kristina Jandová, the complete family has been carefully crafted with distinguishing marks. Take a look at the cap ‘Q’ which comes with three alternative options. Deliciously loopy FS Meridian has a wide geometric, mono-liner appearance with humanistic elements. Quirky individual touches like the loopy expressive pound sign help the typeface to stand out. Available in five weights, FS Meridian is both timeless and timely, a distinctive font for all screens and surfaces.

Mencap When most of us go about everyday tasks, we take for granted the reading that’s involved, on instructions, labels and so on. For people with learning disabilities, reading is made much harder by certain fonts. FS Me is designed specifically to improve legibility for people with learning disabilities. The font was researched and developed with – and endorsed by – Mencap, the UK’s leading charity and voice for those with learning disabilities. Mencap receive a donation for each font license purchased. Every letter of FS Me was tested for its appeal and readability with a range of learning disability groups across the UK. Inclusive Fontsmith were determined to design a font that was accessible to those with learning disabilities without standing out as such – one that was inclusive of all readers. It should comply with accessibility guidelines and work best at 12pt, but still have a character of its own that was warm and approachable. “So much accessible design is done separately to the main body of brand work,” says Jason Smith. “We wanted to make a typeface that covered both brand tone and neutrality, and that could be used legitimately as a brand font as well as in accessible design.” Me, you, everyone FS Me is about design that doesn’t patronise. People with learning disabilities are often treated as inferior by childlike design. FS Me is designed for adults, not children – a beautifully-designed font for everyone. Its features include very subtle distinguishing elements of each letter to aid the reading and comprehension of texts, and tails, ascenders and descenders that have been extended for extra clarity. What the people said... Here is a sample of comments from the extensive research groups that helped to shape the letterforms of FS Me: “I want something round, clear and friendly.” “We like movement in the letters but don’t want anything childish.” “The ‘b’ and ‘d’ need to be different as they can be confused.” “I prefer the handwriting-style ‘a’.” “It’s important to have an accessible ‘a’ and ‘g’. Teachers sometimes complain that learners cannot read or understand the inaccessible ‘a’ and ‘g’.”

Cute FS Kitty is the type equivalent of Bagpuss: plump, cute, cuddly and not fond of exercise. So don’t go giving it a run-out on body copy; FS Kitty is an all-caps font made for showing off in posters and headlines, and on products, point-of sale and especially sweets. Blubber Kitty had been quietly curled up in Phil Garnham’s sketchbook for a year before he brought it out to be brushed up. “It was in the mix as a basic form when I started thinking about FS Lola. It was a twisted, bubbly beauty – quite squishable and huggable. The working file was called Blubber. “At that time it was a basic construction of strokes. I created the ‘A’ first, purely as a shape to play with, not as type. I flipped it for ‘V’, and copied that for a ‘W’. I flipped the ‘W’ for an ‘M’... I thought, ‘This looks a bit wacky, but I like it,’ and just carried on. The most tricky characters were the ‘B’ ‘P’ and ‘R’. I must have drawn about 20 kinds of B for this, just to get it to fit.” Variety “When the regular weight of Kitty had been designed,” says Jason Smith, “it just felt like a natural progression to go on and explore how far we could go with it: Light, Solid, Headline, Shadow.” Phil Garnham thinks there’s still more to come. “There are some really individual characters in this font that I think have yet to be exploited: the Greek Omega symbol, the strange face in the ampersand. Like Bagpuss, Kitty has kept a low profile so far. “We know people are using Kitty. In fact, it was the first of any of our fonts that we sold on the day it was released. But I still haven’t seen it out there in the wild. It’s going to be a exciting moment.”

Born in the 70s Personal influences are unavoidable in type design and usually find their way through into finished fonts. At Fontsmith, one period in particular provides inspiration, according to FS Pimlico designer, Fernando Mello. “Jason and Phil have always known that I’m very into the visual language of the 70s. I know that Jason shares my love of the 70s and Phil will sometimes admit to being a fan, too. I think that’s the reason they were both so supportive in the development of this font. “And, of course, we all share an interest in good-humoured and intelligent design. We like to think it’s a Fontsmith characteristic.” Back from black FS Pimlico started in an unusual place: with a tubby, penguin-like lowercase “a” that Fernando Mello had been sketching. From “a” grew the rest of the alphabet – a bubbly, fat, friendly family with a brush-written quality that became FS Pimlico Black. The black weight certainly isn’t the normal starting point for creating a regular and bold weight, but Fernando pressed on, driven by a glut of influences: brush-writing; Letraset and early digital systems catalogues; the type of Herb Lubalin and Tony di Spigna; 70s clothes and vinyl; and 70s revival disco nights in London’s Pimlico and Vauxhall. Natural or flourished Not often do fonts come along that seem to span the ages. FS Pimlico is at home in an office environment providing a fresh clear identity in communications or providing text that’s clear and easy to read. But it likes to party, too, 70s style. With the OpenType features switched on, a designer can totally change the look of their work, and create point-of-sale, headlines and titles that stand out and get noticed.

Quick Silver FS is unique, fresh and cute handwritten font for branding / logo design / logotypes / greeting cards / promotional graphics and anything in between. Quick Silver FS is inspired from modern era cartoon titles and completely handmade with passion and perfection. Extended Character Sets Along with the basic Latin character set, we have added Western European, Central European, South Eastern European character sets for your convenience. Advanced Kerning We have performed advanced, in-depth kerning for all possible letter combinations. What You Get This font being a handmade typeface, comes with only single weight (Regular). CREDITS: Font designed by Lis at Fontastica, produced by Fontastica, distributed by Designova. Created with ProCreate and Fontself on iPad Pro.

Developer-friendly The studio has developed a wide array of weights for FS Untitled – 12 in all, in roman and italic – with the intention of meeting every on-screen need. All recognisably part of a family, each weight brings a different edge or personality to headline or body copy. There’s more. Type on screen has a tendency to fill in or blow so for each weight, there’s the choice of two marginally different versions, allowing designers and developers to go up or down a touch in weight. They’re free to use the font at any size on any background colour without fear of causing optical obstacles. And to make life even easier for developers, the 12 weight pairs have each been designated with a number from 100 (Thin) to 750 (Bold), corresponding to the system used to denote font weight in CSS code. Selecting a weight is always light work. Easy on the pixels ‘It’s a digital-first world,’ says Jason Smith, ‘and I wanted to make something that was really functional for digital brands’. FS Untitled was made for modern screens. Its shapes and proportions, x-height and cap height were modelled around the pixel grids of even low-resolution displays. So there are no angles in the A, V and W, just gently curving strokes that fit, not fight, with the pixels, and reduce the dependency on font hinting. Forms are simplified and modular – there are no spurs on the r or d, for example – and the space between the dot of the i and its stem is larger than usual. The result is a clearer, more legible typeface – functional but with bags of character. Screen beginnings FS Untitled got its start on the box. Its roots lie in Fontsmith’s creation of the typeface for Channel 4’s rebrand in 2005: the classic, quirky, edgy C4 headline font, with its rounded square shapes (inspired by the classic cartoon TV shape of a squidgy rectangle), and a toned-down version for use in text, captions and content graphics. The studio has built on the characteristics that made the original face so pixel-friendly: its blend of almost-flat horizontals and verticals with just enough openness and curve at the corners to keep the font looking friendly. The curves of the o, c and e are classic Fontsmith – typical of the dedication its designers puts into sculpting letterforms. Look out for… FS Untitled wouldn’t be a Fontsmith typeface if it didn’t have its quirks, some warranted, some wanton. There’s the rounded junction at the base of the E, for example, and the strong, solid contours of the punctuation marks and numerals. Notice, too, the distinctive, open shape of the A, V, W, X and Y, created by strokes that start off straight before curving into their diagonal path. Some would call the look bow-legged; we’d call it big-hearted.

Pure and not-so-simple Maybe it’s the air of purity, openness and transparency that they transmit, but geometric typefaces are more popular than ever among leading brands. Based on near-perfect circles, triangles and squares, geometric letterforms look uncomplicated, even though making them readable is anything but – something the designers of the first wave of geometric fonts discovered nearly a century ago. Many of the world’s most recognisable brands in technology, retail, travel, food, manufacturing and other industries continue to be drawn to the straightforward, honest character that geometric fonts convey. Fontsmith set out in 2015 to develop a typeface in the same tradition, but optimised for the demands of modern brands – online and offline usage, readability and accessibility. And, of course, with the all-important Fontsmith x-factor built in. FS Lucas is the bold and deceptively simple result. Handle with care The letterforms of FS Lucas are round and generous, along the lines of Trajan Column lettering stripped of its serifs. But beware their thorns. Their designer, Stuart de Rozario, who also crafted the award-winning FS Millbank, wanted a contrast between spiky and soft, giving sharp apexes to the more angular letterforms, such as A, M, N, v, w and z. Among his inspirations were the colourful, geometric compositions of Frank Stella, the 1920s art deco poster designs of AM Cassandre, and the triangular cosmic element symbol, which led him to tackle the capital A first, instead of the usual H. The proportions and angles of the triangular form would set the template for many of the other characters. It was this form, and the light-scattering effects of triangular prisms, that lit the path to a name for the typeface: Lucas is derived from lux, the Latin word for light. Recommended reading Early geometric typefaces were accused of putting mathematical integrity before readability. FS Lucas achieves the trick of appearing geometric, while taking the edge off elements that make reading difficult. Perfectly circlular shapes don’t read well. The way around that is to slightly thicken the vertical strokes, and pull out the curves at the corners to compensate; the O and o of FS Lucas are optical illusions. Pointed apexes aren’t as sharp as they look; the flattened tips are an essential design feature. And distinctive details such as the open terminals of the c, e, f, g, j, r and s, and the x-height bar on the i and j, aid legibility, especially on-screen. These and many other features, the product of sketching the letterforms in the first instance by hand rather than mapping them out mechanically by computer, give FS Lucas the built-in humanity and character that make it a better, easier read all-round. Marks of distinction Unlike some of its more buttoned-up geometric bedfellows, FS Lucas can’t contain its natural personality and quirks: the flick of the foot of the l, for example, and the flattish tail on the g and j. The unusual bar on the J improves character recognition, and the G is circular, without a straight stem. There’s a touch of Fontsmith about the t, too, with the curve across the left cross section in the lighter weights, and the ampersand is one of a kind. There’s a lot to like about Lucas. With its 9 weights, perfect proportions and soft but spiky take on the classic geometric font, it’s a typeface that could light up any brand.

Cosmopolitan Elegance Named after a southerly wind that blows over the Mediterranean Sea, FS Ostro breathes warmth into letterforms with their roots in colder, stark Modern typefaces. FS Ostro is a typeface imbued with balanced and sophisticated elegance. It’s discerning and sensitive, self-assured but understated. One for the well-travelled reader. Thoughtful contrast FS Ostro draws inspiration from a wide range of sources, such as 19th century British Scotch Roman designs, Italian modern style typefaces and highly contrasted display Spanish examples. Its text version offers a consistent rhythm and robust texture that is easy on the eye. This elegant, cosmopolitan typeface is characterised by its thoughtfully modulated contrasts between thick and thin, sharp angles, and sophisticated curves. Exaggerated touches in display “What is more restrained and sober in text, becomes purposefully prominent and more detailed in display,” says Fontsmith designer Alessia Mazzarella. These exaggerated details for the display version can be seen in the letter terminals, such as those in the ‘a’ and ‘g’ and the tail of the ‘Q’, as well as in the set of numerals, fractions, arrows, borders and ornaments, which can be used to build decorative framing elements. Fluid italics The less rigid and curvaceous italics of modern style typefaces were the inspiration for FS Ostro’s own subtle, flowing italic styles. The letterforms are confident and fluid, creating an overall sense of refinement and modernity.

Quirky and irregular FS Split is no ordinary typeface. Its irregular proportions make it unique, with round letters appearing wide, and straight letters narrow. Other quirks include its eclectic crossbars – the uppercase ‘A’ has an unusually low bar, while the bar on ‘G’ is particularly long. The uppercase has many interesting features in fact, including large counters, closed terminals on certain letters like ‘J’, and a cap-height that lines up with ascenders. The lowercase also holds surprises – the dots on ‘i’ and ‘j’ are unusually large, and some characters, such as ‘g’, feature double-storey counters. An extreme but stylish italic The italic versions of FS Split Sans and Serif are particularly striking. While similar in style to their upright, Roman versions, they take on a larger-than-usual 18-degree angle, making the forward-slant more dramatic. Although the main purpose of any italic is to help words and phrases stand out, this unique execution helps to make the italic variants of FS Split stylish fonts in their own right – they would work brilliantly on magazine covers, in titles and headlines, pull quotes, and even used commercially in logos and corporate branding. Serif and sans: a split personality FS Split Sans and Serif have their differences but also their similarities, contrasting and complementing each other perfectly. This ‘love hate’ relationship inspired the name of the typeface family, and means the two variants provide a versatile, typographic palette for use in graphics and branding. While its proportions are similar to the sans, the serif has a bigger contrast between its weights of bold, regular and light, bracketed serifs, and different styles of terminals, some being straight and others ball-shaped. FS Split Sans has more subtlety and simplicity, with a smaller weight contrast, less flamboyant terminals, and more consistent counter sizes. The two variants are distinct yet alike, so can be used successfully either in isolation or together.

Quirky and irregular FS Split is no ordinary typeface. Its irregular proportions make it unique, with round letters appearing wide, and straight letters narrow. Other quirks include its eclectic crossbars – the uppercase ‘A’ has an unusually low bar, while the bar on ‘G’ is particularly long. The uppercase has many interesting features in fact, including large counters, closed terminals on certain letters like ‘J’, and a cap-height that lines up with ascenders. The lowercase also holds surprises – the dots on ‘i’ and ‘j’ are unusually large, and some characters, such as ‘g’, feature double-storey counters. An extreme but stylish italic The italic versions of FS Split Sans and Serif are particularly striking. While similar in style to their upright, Roman versions, they take on a larger-than-usual 18-degree angle, making the forward-slant more dramatic. Although the main purpose of any italic is to help words and phrases stand out, this unique execution helps to make the italic variants of FS Split stylish fonts in their own right – they would work brilliantly on magazine covers, in titles and headlines, pull quotes, and even used commercially in logos and corporate branding. Serif and sans: a split personality FS Split Sans and Serif have their differences but also their similarities, contrasting and complementing each other perfectly. This ‘love hate’ relationship inspired the name of the typeface family, and means the two variants provide a versatile, typographic palette for use in graphics and branding. While its proportions are similar to the sans, the serif has a bigger contrast between its weights of bold, regular and light, bracketed serifs, and different styles of terminals, some being straight and others ball-shaped. FS Split Sans has more subtlety and simplicity, with a smaller weight contrast, less flamboyant terminals, and more consistent counter sizes. The two variants are distinct yet alike, so can be used successfully either in isolation or together.

The x factor How do you make a font like FS Albert unique, distinctive? “When designing a font I try to question every letter,” says Jason Smith, “but all you need is a few that have an x factor. With FS Albert, they’re the lowercase ‘a’ and ‘g’ and the uppercase ‘I’ and ‘J’. “I remember a friend saying, ‘Why on earth have you designed the ‘a’ like that? Isn’t it too friendly for this kind of font?’ And, in a way, that’s what I wanted – honesty and warmth, because a lot of big brands at the time really needed to show a more human side.” Range of weights and styles FS Albert is a charismatic type: a warm, friendly sans serif face with a big personality. Open, strong and amenable, and available in a wide range of weights and styles, FS Albert suits almost every task you put it to. Fontsmith has crafted five finely-tuned upright Roman weights and four italic weights, as well as a special Narrow version to provide the best coverage and give headlines and text an easy-going character. The chunky kid “FS Albert was inspired by – and named after – my son, who was a bit of a chunky kid,” says Jason Smith. “I designed an extra bold weight because I always felt that the really big font heavy weights had the most personality. “I recently told Albert this story. He laughed, and forgave me for thinking he was a fat baby. He liked the big personality bit, though.” 1000s of glyphs Not content with a character set that covered Europe and the whole of the Western world, the studio decided to go further afield. There are now FS Albert character sets that cover western and eastern European languages, including those of Russia, as well as Cyrillic, Arabic and Greek scripts. In fact, the font now covers more than 100 languages, making it ideal for bringing a consistent typographic style to the communications of global brands.

Iconic Conjuring memories of chunky typefaces from the late-60s and early-70s, and named after the world’s greatest footballer of that and probably any other era, FS Pele is one of a set of Fontsmith fonts designed specifically for headlines and other prominent applications. “We wanted to create fonts that could be integral to the design of posters, album covers and magazines,” says Jason Smith. Welcome to FS Pele, iconic, like its namesake (though, perhaps, a little less nimble). Big Pele, little Pele There was only one Pele. But there are two sizes of FS Pele. FS Pele One, with the finer counters and details, adds considerable weight and style at large sizes, especially in big block headlines on posters. FS Pele Two’s thicker “slots” make it a better choice for smaller-sized text. A load of blocks FS Pele began as an exercise by Phil Garnham in turning squares into legible letters, via the least means necessary. The idea extended his ideas about logo-making, and the search for a stamp-like brand mark that lends authority, stability and instant identification. “The thought that the type was a 2D/3D jigsaw of slotted, architectural pieces was almost an after-thought. I wanted to create a strong, stacking, block aesthetic for the most contemporary poster design. “At the time there were a lot of designers creating their own versions of the same thing but I wanted to take the blocker forms to the next step, and infer a more legible text without sacrificing the idea.”

Unconventional beauty FS Kim is bold and intriguing – exuberant and unmissable, but playing a supporting role when needed. This typeface shines brightest as a display font, and is perfect for applications across fashion, theatre, cultural projects and pretty much any brand that wants to make a statement. While FS Kim is dramatic, it’s incredibly versatile, too, and works to showcase content in a stylish, striking way. This font makes you look, and makes you curious – perfect for brands and publishers that relish unconventional beauty. A playful text version While FS Kim’s text version is more constrained than the display, the strength and playfulness remain. Modifications for the text version include larger x-heights, longer ascenders and descenders, wider proportions and spacing, longer and more defined serifs and a lower contrast. “The overall idea is that it’s not an optical size,” Radoeva explains. Text and display maintain a strong connection that mean they can be used together. A display with a twist The calligraphic starting point helped to create familiar forms, while a contemporary display feel is achieved through short wedge serifs, with bold touches added through the font’s exaggerated forms and details. FS Kim’s narrow proportions, short ascenders and descenders, and tighter spacing make the font suitably compact for display use. The overall aesthetic feels bold and sharp, but closer inspection reveals that all the corners are softened. Decorative inlines In an unusual twist, FS Kim’s display version was first drawn using a broad-nib pen to create familiar forms and elegance while still breaking from serif traditions and making it all about standout character. There are also two additional styles, based on the Regular and Black with inlines – in uppercase, figures and symbols. The inline brings an extra option for an even stronger, more decorative display use.