Welcome to issue 103!

The spotlight is on Scandinavia this month, with half of the works featured in today’s issue coming either from Norway or from Sweden. Also, I’m still playing around with new sections in this newsletter. In my last issue, I introduced the “creative spotlight” which was very well received, with 90% of respondents saying they would like to keep it. So, it’s definitely here to stay! In addition, this month I’m experimenting with another new section, this one dedicated to fonts in use or other kind of typographic projects. So, here are some inspiring typefaces and projects that caught my radar this month!

Enjoy! ✌︎ — Noemi

Typeface of the Month

Don’t just look at it, play with it! Upgrade to our paid membership and get a license of our typeface of the month 🥳

Schrifted Serif by Schrifteria Foundry

Designed by Yulia Gonina of Schrifteria Foundry, Schrifted Serif is a graceful, vibrant font inspired by the essence of Stockholm. The typeface comes in three optical sizes: Text, Display, and Subhead. As you would guess, Text is meant for use in small sizes and long passages of text, and Display for use in logos and expressive, large headlines. They are complemented with the versatile Subhead family, suitable for both text and small-sized headlines. One feature that I particularly appreciate, the typeface includes alternates that let you swap some characters for their “fancy stroke endings alternatives”, for example the lowercase ‘s’ (see above). This gives the typeface a satisfying aspect, which can be further enhanced by the use of ligatures. I’m excited to say that Schrifteria is generously granting our paid subscribers a license of all three subfamilies, complete with their italics and variable fonts!

For a limited time, upgrade to our paid membership and get a lifetime, never-expiring license that allows for the following usage:

• The complete Schrifted Serif superfamily (3 optical sizes, 48 font styles, and variable fonts)

• Use in personal and commercial projects (license is not transferable)

• Desktop use (for up to 3 users)

• Web use (for up to 25k monthly pageviews)

💰 It’s a good investment! Cancel your Fresh Fonts membership anytime, but keep using the typefaces of the month that you received forever. More info on our paid membership and FAQ on the font licenses offered as its main perk.

View Schrifted Serif →

Foundry Spotlight

Smuss Type Kiosk

Smuss Type Kiosk is the side foundry of Smuss Studio, a graphic design studio from Oslo, Norway. Both projects are run by William Stormdal and Jørgen Brynhildsvoll, with William Stormdal acting as the design lead on the typefaces published on Type Kiosk. These typefaces include STK Bureau, a family in both serif and sans-serif versions, STK Gerhard, a monospaced family, and STK Rom, a versatile sans. Perhaps my favourite, STK Hugo (pictured above) is a serif in three styles including both a Display cut and a Book cut. Beautiful work.

Fresh Releases

Tiny Grotesk by Tiny Type Co.

Tiny Grotesk is the latest from Tiny Type, a small independent foundry run from Oslo, Norway. Designed by foundry founder Robin Mientjes, Tiny Grotesk is not that tiny: three widths correspond to three optical sizes, covering a wide range of applications. The narrow styles are meant for use in footnotes, sidenotes and the like. The regular width is a general-use sans-serif which can be set anywhere from 12px to 24px on screens. And finally, for large and eye-catching use, such as headlines, logos and quotes, the wide styles can go as big as you want. “But nobody’s going to stop you if you mix things up.”

Scoop by Letters from Sweden

The latest from Letters from Sweden, Scoop, was originally designed for Dagens Nyheter, a prominent Swedish daily newspaper headquartered in Stockholm. The typeface, renamed Scoop, is now available as a commercial typeface for retail. With a design inspired from dependable and versatile Grotesques, Scoop is loaded with stylistic sets, including an alternate ‘6’ and ‘9’. An option to change between circular our square punctuation is also available. The family includes six weights, with matching italics, and a variable font. A condensed version is also under production.

Spyre by British Standard Type

You guessed it, this one is not from Scandinavia. Spyre is the debut typeface from London-based designer Jack Niblett, who recently graduated from the Kingston School of Art. The typeface is a serif that traces the evolution of Roman forms into a modern transitional style. It comprises two distinct subfamilies. Firt, Spyre is a rigorous text family, characterized by sturdy serifs, balanced cap widths, and a generous x-height. Spyre Epoch, its sister family, features a higher contrast, pointed and splayed serifs, and is suitable for use at larger sizes.

Rooftop by Interval Type

Another impressive release from Ilya Naumoff, Rooftop is a sans-serif characterized by slightly squarish curves, giving it with a sense of sturdiness and technological sophistication. The family spans eight weights across six widths, with matching italics, for a total of 96 font styles, available individually or as a variable font. This wide range of styles makes Rooftop highly adaptable, with the Standard and Compact widths perfectly adapted for use in continuous text, and the Ultra Condensed and Condensed widths ideal to create impactful titles.

Typographic Project

A custom font for The Outernet by NaN

The Outernet is a new venue in the heart of London, with a daily schedule of music, arts and entertainment programming presented on the world’s largest LED screens, along with exciting places to eat, drink and watch live music. NaN developed a custom type family for the place, designed with animation and kinetic typography in mind. The family includes both proportional and monospaced styles, allowing animation in weight while maintaining the same width. Type animated on the world’s biggest 360° screens? Yes please!

Creative Spotlight

Karan Singh

This month, the spotlight is on Karan Singh, a visual artist based in Melbourne, Australia. He works across an eclectic variety of media, from prints and sculpture to clothing and augmented reality installations. Whatever the output, his work is always beautifully crafted, with an explosion of colour. Very cool.

Goods