Just a few weeks after type foundry Fontwerk has launched, the foundry announces the release of their next superfamily: Case™ by none other than Erik Spiekermann who collaborated with Anja Meiners and Ralph du Carrois to create a modern Neo-Grotesque for the new Twenties.
Corporate type designers know this situation all too well: Your client wants something new, something to call their own, something that stands out from the competition. However, in reality, they often end up wanting the same thing: their own version of Helvetica, Akzidenz Grotesk or Univers.
Anja Meiners and Ralph du Carrois and even Erik Spiekermann have sat in client briefings like these. As a trio, they have been responsible for numerous respected custom-type projects, but often they too have found themselves depending upon such a variant or adaptation.
Case is the essence of these experiences. They left out everything that they felt was unnecessary in the world’s most popular typeface genre but they made sure to keep all the best bits. Building on the concentrate of the best bits, they added new ideas and conceptual solutions for a contemporary static grotesque. The result is the missing element in an otherwise strained and bloated genre: A typeface whose clear basic personality looks familiar and creates trust, but at the same time is novel and individual and is therefore perfect for strong brand building. An ideal font for complex branding projects born out of years of working on such complex branding projects.
One of the characteristics of all Case styles is that in order to optimize some of the letters for the design of logos and wordmarks, the terminals of letters such as c, a, s and e all have the same horizontal endings.
Case is currently available in three optical sizes: the core family is suitable for the vast majority of applications, especially larger applications such as logos, wordmarks and headlines, the Text family for longer reads and the Micro version for – surprise, surprise – small text. Depending on the area of use, it can guarantee the readability of 5pt, in some cases, even less.
An important distinguishing criterion of the family members is their respective spacing. In comparison to the two versions for text applications, the main family’s spacing is narrow, whereas it is wider on the Text and widest on the Micro. For better readability, both Case Text and Case Micro have a higher x-height, a tailed ‘l’ and slightly more open shapes than its bigger sister. The Micro has more distinguishable character forms (r, i, j) or wider glyphs (f, t) as well as significant contrast at the joints of the stems and bows.
A unique selling point is the Variable Fonts since they are still a rarity in the Neo-Grotesque genre. These are included in the complete package. At no extra cost.
We believe “in any case” that Case has the potential to become a classic of tomorrow. More than 30 years after Erik Spiekermann’s most important classic FF Meta was released, its designer, together with Anja Meiners and Ralph du Carrois, have their sights set on the twenties.
Just like any other Fontwerk typeface, Case can be tried for free by downloading Trial Fonts from www.fontwerk.com.
Links:
– Case https://fontwerk.com/en/fonts/case
– Case Text https://fontwerk.com/en/fonts/case-text
– Case Micro https://fontwerk.com/en/fonts/case-micro
– Case Superfamily landing page https://fontwerk.com/en/fonts/case-superfamily
– Erik Spiekermann https://fontwerk.com/en/designers/erik-spiekermann
– Anja Meiners https://fontwerk.com/en/designers/anja-meiners
– Ralph du Carrois https://fontwerk.com/en/designers/ralph-du-carrois
Download Free Trial Fonts on Fontwerk.com
Designer
Erik Spiekermann
What else can one write about the man whose Wikipedia entry has been translated into 13 different languages?
The man, whose shelves are decorated with multiple awards for his life’s work from the most renowned associations and a beautifully framed honorary doctorate certificate. The man, whose reference books and biography ‘Hello, I Am Erik’ became international bestsellers. The man, who has designed more successful typefaces than most foundries have to offer. The man, who is an entertaining
guest in audio, film and tv productions (e.g. the legendary bbc video). He is at home in three time zones and owns more bicycles in each place than a large sporty family. He is the man who was heavily involved building two of the most relevant creative agencies, a legendary letterpress workshop, and the most important independent font distributor and the largest library of contemporary typefaces.
So, there is not much left to write about this man. Apart from the fact that Fontwerk would probably not exist without the latter two achievements, our roots lie in the ideals and friendships of the first 25 years of FontShop. The fact that Erik sees his future as a type designer for our label after his enormously successful time at ITC and FontFont is highly appreciated but at the same time a hugely motivating obligation for us.
Berlin, Germany
Link: p98a.com
Instagram: @espiekermann
Twitter: @espiekermann
Designer
Anja Meiners
Surrounded by the crystal-clear, ice-age lakes at the gates of Berlin, Anja Meiners finds inspiration for distinct, contemporary custom fonts.
She lives in the tranquil surroundings of Brandenburg with family (but without a dog), while she realizes her ideas together with Ralph du Carrois in the hectic and frenetic Friedrichshain area of Berlin. The duo, known as bBox Type, are a soughtafter partner for international brands such as ZDF, Cisco, TERN or Autodesk for their design of exclusive custom fonts. They are also responsible for the popular Fira Sans for Mozilla in cooperation with Erik Spiekermann and Team.
As well as a flair for corporate fonts, the communication designer has a talent for organising, for example at the monthly Typostammtisch Berlin, for which she also
loves to write passionately. Her passion for writing is also reflected in her subjective observations on how children learn.
Anja is very good at listening, but also at ignoring if it serves progress. She likes to think and to think outside the box. She is not yet satisfied with the quality of her
feminist side, but it’s on her agenda for her thirties.
Groß Köris, Germany
Links: bboxtype.com and f-learns.de
Designer
Ralph du Carrois
The graphic design studio founded by Ralph and Jennifer du Carrois soon developed into a type design studio after an extensive corporate type assignment for Suzuki.
Ralph made a name for himself with international clients such as de Gruyter, ZDF, Cisco, Bosch, TERN, Autodesk and Monotype by extending and designing fonts. His most famous project is perhaps Fira Sans for Mozilla, which he developed together with Erik Spiekermann and his team. In 2017, Ralph and his long-time colleague Anja Meiners set up bBox Type, a joint type foundry.
Born in Allgäu, Germany, the graduate Product Designer now devotes more and more of his spare time to both his actual field of study and to his art. An example of his artwork is Time Is A Square, an abstract and experimental time display.
However, he doesn’t have that much spare time, as the Carrois family are escaping the hustle and bustle of Berlin to build an eco house in Brandenburg.
Potsdam, Germany
Link: carrois.com
Instagram: @carroiscarrois
Twitter: @carroiscarrois