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FF Info Text Alternatives
See also: Angled finial
FF Info is named after its purpose: the transfer of information. Its clean lines make no fashion statements, nor do they attempt any technical wizardry. The typeface was initially intended for use on traffic signage,and other wayfinding systems in stations, on buildings, etc. Because space comes at a premium in such situations, FF Info Display is drawn narrow; It requires 15% less space than most of the signage typefaces currently in use. To compensate for the tight fit, its spacing is been slightly increased. The process of reading signs is quite different from reading long text. Rather than combining groups of word images to form a sentence, we scan letter by letter to produce a brief and sometimes surprising result. For this reason, it’s important that characters be individually differentiated. This is especially so for figures, since many numbers are easily confused due to their similarity. The same is true of lowercase i and l, or uppercase I and the number 1, when seen from a distance, or given little context by which to differentiate them, the process of reading is error prone. FF Info Display solves this problem with a serif at the top of the small i, a tail at the bottom of the small l, and serifs at the top and bottom of the uppercase I. These distinctions are derived from typewriter typefaces, where the dominant serifs on the i, l, I and 1 were used to fill out the otherwise narrow letter forms, and prevent “holes” from forming in the monospaced text. The designer, Erik Spiekermann, gave the same letters a similar treatment in his earlier typeface, ITC Officina. Signs are generally read in motion, and often at odd angles. Under such circumstances, letterforms can become blurred and indistinct. Backlit signs have the effect of rounding otherwise sharp corners, further complicating the process of distinguishing between individual letters. FF Info Display was designed with the demands of backlighted signage in mind: the already rounded ends of the letters are less given to these distortions and the letters remain true to form. White type on a dark background appears heavier in weight than equivalently sized dark type on a light background, and the effect is further exaggerated when the light type is backlit. The typeface FF Info Display compensates for the difference between the various weights, and introduces a system for weight matching. For example, white text set in its Book weight on a black background is optically the same as black text set in Medium on a white field. With backlit signs, dark text appears thinner, in which case the Semi Bold weight would be an appropriate match to the above examples. FF Info also includes numerous arrows in a range of line widths and directions, handy for sign making. Critique Magazine gave specific recognition to the FF Info family in 1998. That year, it made the cut that included just 1% of all considered designs to receive an award in their “Big Crit” contest. FF Info was later adapted to print, and correpondence versions. “When we looked at prints of FF Info Display used in small point sizes, we found that the typeface also worked well as a text face,” said Erik Spiekermann about the second phase of his FF Info type family. “I’ve always maintained that technical specifications, which help determine the appearance of a typeface, also make it work well in other difficult circumstances.”
Seeing the possibility of creating a Meta for everyday office use (instead of a specialized tool for graphic designers), Erik Spiekermann expanded the family with this function in mind. The oldstyle figures were replaced with default tabular lining ones and the overall spacing was loosened for better reproduction on a wider variety of screens, printers, copiers, and fax machines. In 2012... Read More
When ITC Officina was first released in 1990, as a paired family of serif and sans serif faces in two weights with italics, it was... Read More
Check also: kredX
The family that became FF Meta was first called PT55, an economical typeface made for easy reading at small sizes created for the West... Read More
FF Zwo started as a constructivist concept, which was abandoned over time in favor of something more functional. Its final resulting forms create a legible and clear face, rigid and sturdy, but with a decidedly contemporary handling. The design spreads out over eight weights, each with italics and small caps. Single-story “a” and “g” alternates are included, as well as stemless “u.” A... Read More
Check also: This is my Next
A grown-up, no-nonsense sibling to Erik Spiekermann’s popular FF Meta, FF Unit irons out many of the quirks of its predecessor, dialing... Read More
Check also: Fonts in Apps
A popular choice within the FontFont library, FF Clan is an extensive family from Polish designer Łukasz Dziedzic. A contemporary sans... Read More
Check also: This is my Next
Rounded typefaces go in and out of style. They are often used for user interfaces, or for back-lit signage. Sharp type often looks blunt... Read More
Check also: Layer FontFonts
FF Info is named after its purpose: the transfer of information. Its clean lines make no fashion statements, nor do they attempt any... Read More
Insan, designed by Ihsan Al-Hammouri in 2005, is a modern Arabic typeface in three different weights. The design is based on simplified Naskh with a very low modulated stroke treatment. It is suited for text settings, especially in brochures and magazines. It is characterized by a large body height and open counters and as such can be used in small sizes. The font includes a matching Latin... Read More
The idea for the Generis type system came to Erik Faulhaber while he was traveling in the USA. Seeing typefaces mixed together in a business district motivated him to create a new type system with interrelated forms. The first design scheme came about in 1997, following the space saving model of these American Gothics. Faulhaber then examined the demands of legibility and various communications... Read More
The idea for the Generis type system came to Erik Faulhaber while he was traveling in the USA. Seeing typefaces mixed together in a business district motivated him to create a new type system with interrelated forms. The first design scheme came about in 1997, following the space saving model of these American Gothics. Faulhaber then examined the demands of legibility and various communications... Read More
Isonorm was created in 1980 by the International Standards Organization (ISO). The font's design is simple, clean, and geometric, with strokes that all have rounded ends. Isonorm is a font whose forms are very legible by both the human eye and machine readers. The font is also a good choice for drafting and architectural purposes, as well as for technical charts and graphics.
Check also: Personal Collection
The typeface FF Transit is a highly legible design that works well for readers who need quick orientation while en route. Made to blend... Read More
Check also: inno font
FF Kievit explores the synthesis of the sans serif form to the structure and proportions of a traditional Renaissance Roman such as... Read More
Aptifer Sans Value Pack, Four fonts: Aptifer Sans Regular, Aptifer Sans Italic, Aptifer Sans Bold, and Aptifer Sans Bold Italic! A 21st century typeface created by Mårten Thavenius, each Aptifer Sans font contains an OpenType character set, with 922 glyphs! The following codepages are fully supported in Aptifer Sans: 1252 Latin 1, 1250 Latin 2: Eastern Europe, 1254 Turkish, and 1257 Baltic. A... Read More
The Azbuka™ typeface family has its roots in a fairly pedestrian source. “The idea came in part from an old sign in London that read ‘SPRINKLER STOP VALVE’,” says Dave Farey, designer of the typeface. Like all good sign spotters, Farey took a photograph of the sign and filed it away for possible use in a lettering or typeface design project. In Prague a number of years later, the street signs... Read More
FF Zine is a fine example of Berlin-based designer Ole Schäfer’s logic. Art Directors often have trouble finding coordinated typefaces across several different styles. The design began with a related project. In 1996, Schäfer drew a two-weight headline face for Dresden’s Sächsische Zeitung newspaper. The brief called for a display system offering multiple “atmospheres.” The solution he came up... Read More
Check also: Correspondence Fonts
FF Letter Gothic is a family designed by Albert Pinggera based on the old IBM “Letter Gothic” typewriter faces. As the name suggests,... Read More
Check also: kredX and Kredx
FF DIN Round comes as a welcome addition to the most popular family in the FontFont library and brings warmth to FF DIN’s simplicity and... Read More
The German designer Alexander Dosiehn developed the Liga Sans type family as part of his graduate thesis at the Fachhochschule Düsseldorf in 2001. Liga Sans is a sans serif typeface that acts as a bridge between classical modern styles. Traces of pen forms and brush strokes can be seen mixed together with the most legible elements from grotesk-style faces in the alphabet's letterforms. These... Read More
Check also: Correspondence Fonts
FF Nuvo is a contemporary sans with a slight contrast. Certain characters have a calligraphic touch, especially a, g and y. The typeface... Read More
Check also: Correspondence Fonts
FF Info is named after its purpose: the transfer of information. Its clean lines make no fashion statements, nor do they attempt any... Read More
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Check also: Correspondence Fonts