Florian Fecher’s Lektorat font family is one for the books, and for the screens, and for the magazines. While an editorial’s main goals are to entertain, inform, and persuade, more should be considered. For example, clear divisions are necessary, not just from one article to the next, but in how each is positioned as op-ed or fact-based, infographic or table, vilifying or uplifting. From masthead to colophon, Lektorat has six concise text styles and 21 display styles to captivate, educate, and motivate within any editorial purpose.
Magazines and related publications are notoriously difficult to brand and then to format accordingly. The research behind Lektorat focused on expression versus communication and what it takes for a great typeface to accomplish both tasks. In the changeover from the 19th to 20th century, German type foundry Schelter & Giesecke published several grotesque families that would become Lektorat’s partial inspiration. Experimentation with concepts from different exemplars gave birth to Lektorat’s manifest character traits: raised shoulders, deep incisions within highly contrasted junctions, and asymmetrical counters in a sans family.
After thoroughly analysing magazine publishing and editorial designs, Florian discovered that a concise setup is sufficient for general paragraph text. So Lektorat’s text offering is concentrated into six total styles: regular, semibold, and bold with their obliques. Stylistic sets are equally minimal; an alternate ‘k, K’ and tail-less ‘a’ appear in text only. No fluff, no wasted “good intentions”, just a laser-like suite to focus the reader on the words.
The display styles were another matter. They aim to attract attention in banners, as oversized type filling small spaces, photo knockouts, and in subsidiary headings like decks, callouts, sections, and more. For these reasons, three dialed-in widths — Narrow, Condensed, and Compressed — complete the display offerings in seven upright weights each, flaunting 21 headlining fonts in total. If being on font technology’s cutting edge is more your goal, the Lektorat type family is optionally available in three small variable font files for ultimate control and data savings.
The Lektorat typeface was forged with a steel spine for pixel and print publishing. It unwaveringly informs, convincingly persuades, and aesthetically entertains when the tone calls for it. Its sans serif forms expand in methodical ways until the heaviest two weights close in, highlighting its irrepressible usefulness to the very end. Lektorat is an example of how much we relish entering into an agreed battle of persuasion — one which both sides actually enjoy.
About TypeTogether
Veronika Burian and José Scaglionemet and developed a respectful kinship while completing their Master’s degrees in type design at University of Reading, UK. Established in 2006, TypeTogether is an independent, cosmopolitan type foundry that creates text typography for intensive digital and print editorial use. We have grown into a core team living worldwide and invested in the daily work, networked with other type designers who intermittently cooperate on specific projects.
Through our unique, diverse, curated font platform, TypeTogether creates innovative and stylish solutions to the greatest problems in the professional typography market.
The advantage of being a small but highly specialized company is that we are able to work closely with our clients to accomplish their goals and to respond quickly to their requirements. To carry an organisation’s unique voice across all communications, TypeTogether creates custom type solutions for discerning clients worldwide. Distinct advantages in your market can be gained through logotype creation, commissioning a brand new typeface, modifying existing typefaces, or extending language support.
TypeTogether creates cross-platform OpenType fonts of recognised aesthetic and technical excellence and which perform well in continuous reading. Our internationally awarded catalogue — honoured for its high quality, usefulness, personality, and ability to grab attention — spans many languages and scripts and is diligently expanding each year.
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