One of the good practices of today’s type foundries is that they release their type families as systems including both serif and sans serif type. Usually, the sources of inspiration need to be well tried with time and practice, since production of a type family is such a laborious and complex process. From the beginning, it needs to be clear that the result will be suited for universal use. Such systems, complete with the broad, multi-lingual variations permitted by the OpenType format, have become the elementary, default instrument of visual communication. Non-Latin scripts are useful for a wide scope of academic publications, for packaging and corporate systems alike. And what about outdoor advertisement designated for markets in developing countries? Cyrillics and Greek have become an integral part of our OpenType font systems. Maybe you noticed that the sans serif cuts have richer variety of the light – black scale. This is due to the fact that sans serif families tend to be less susceptible to deformities in form, and thus they are able to retain their original character throughout the full range of weights. On the other hand, the nature of serifed, contrasted cuts does not permit such extremes without sacrificing their characteristic features. Both weights were drawn by hand, only the Medium cut has been interpolated. Anselm Ten is a unique family of four cuts, slightly strengthened and adjusted for the setting in sizes around 10 pt and smaller, as its name indicates. The ancestry of Anselm goes back to Jannon , a slightly modified Old Style Roman. I drew Serapion back in 1997, so its spirit is youthful, a bit frisky, and it is charmed by romantic, playful details. Anselm succeeds it after ten years of evolution, it is a sober, reliable laborer, immune to all eccentricities. The most significant difference between Sebastian/Serapion and Anselm is the raised x-height of lowercase, which makes it ideal for applications in extensive texts. Our goal was to create an all-round type family, equally suitable for poetry, magazines, books, posters, and information systems.

Ana is a chromatic typeface consisting of 26 uppercase Latin characters, inspired by arabesque patterns from the nineteenth century. Programmed to enable users to easily create multicolored drop caps and initials, this decorative display typeface features a different ornament for every letterform, which fits perfectly with its glyph shape. This ornament is usually more luxurious on the left side of the letter, while on the right it is scarce, so that the body text can be placed close to the initial. These initials are valuable for use in large sizes, like posters, magazines, packaging design, fairy tales, and so on. The final forms of the initials consist of 5 parts which can be individually colored. There are 5 font files named Ana Layer A, Ana Layer B, and so on. A font user can manually create a multicolored initial with these font files, if there is no possibility to use the Contextual Alternates option. To do that, it is necessary to make 5 layers in the page layout software. Then, the corresponding character should be placed on each layer, so that Ana Layer A is on the lowest layer and Ana Layer E is on the highest one. Note that the glyph shapes are contained in the lower case positions. In contrast, the font file named Ana is programmed, so it is possible to create a multicolored initial with the Contextual Alternates command. There is no need for additional layers, everything happens on a single layer. First, the Contextual Alternates command (usually under OpenType menu) should be disabled. Then, using lower case key, type the desired character 5 times and apply color to them. Select them all and turn on the Contextual Alternates. Also, the font file Ana comes with a set of ‘black’ initials that can be used just like any other non-color typeface. The ornamental versions are contained in the uppercase positions, while the letters without the ornaments are in the lower case. With the font file Ana Monochrome one can only get the monochrome initials. Ornamental letters are contained in the upper case positions, while the letterforms without the ornaments are in the lower case.

Chennai’s market-tested type styles have taken new form once again. The geometric forms of Chennai and its derivant Madurai, both successful in web-based applications and logotypes, have now been adapted for the superfamily Madurai Slab, a potent, square slab serif ideal for headlines and posters. Under the surface of Madurai Slab’s straightforward geometric structure, the font’s exaggerated vertical serifs provide the face with an extra chunk that commands the reader’s attention and gives the font more impact in its heavier styles. The extra-fortified forms are anything but monotonous, though. The bolder structure of the slab is instead rational, diligently thought-out, with minimally contrasting strokes, making the sturdier look particularly legible in shorter textual content blocks. This child of Madurai contains a comprehensive range of nine weights--slender to black--and features condensed and extender selections for a complete set of fifty-four fonts. All users of the Madurai Slab collection can access numerous OpenType alternates. Madurai Slab is furnished for experienced typographers, together with alternates, compact caps and many alts like “normalized” capitals and lowercase letters that come with stems. The typeface also contains a range of numeral sets, together with fractions, old-style and lining figures with superiors and inferiors. OpenType-capable programs including Quark or the Adobe suite allow quick changes to ligatures and alternates. Previews of these options can be found in the .pdf brochure. Madurai Slab also features the glyphs to enable all Central, Eastern and Western European languages. In all, Madurai Slab supports around forty languages that utilize the prolonged Latin script, making it an excellent option for multi-lingual publications and packaging. This richness of options makes this the best slab serif family for websites as well as for print, motion graphics, logos, t-shirts and the like. Madurai Slab is a great choice when looking for a Neo-Grotesque slab serif font. In the hands of a learned designer, this new slab offers the potential for beautiful and well-blended layouts. With its widths adjusting to compact and extended content blocks, this typeface is perfect for the headings, captions and other brief, immediate messages that you need to drive your message home.