Subtil Grotesk

At first glance, Subtil Grotesk may look just as your next Helvetica-class sanserif. At hearing "Helvetica", many of us might think ‘Oh no, this is much different!’ Yes, Subtil is a good sample of a world where the dominance of the serious post Great-war Grotesque, such as Monotype Grotesque No.1/10, Helvetica, Folio, Akzidenz, News Gothic, Venus and more, persuaded type designers to add many pastiches to that class. The wish to tap into its success - because that had become technically within reach - definitely played an important role there and drove type designers to create their own versions of it, lifting the lid for more air and pursuing a less dogmatic approach. Sometimes that was well-planned but in others, it was simply the result of inexperience and, yes, ignorance. This paved way to a waterfall of hybrid Grotesque designs, that soaked the market in an unprecedentedly short time. Over the past twenty or so years and counting, digital revolution has pushed the pure, cold, calculated, and often-called 'neutral' Grotesque somewhat aside. That made room for Grotesque-like designs — since they are not Grotesque in the traditional sense. These designs belong to a new class of Grotesques, on their own right. With all that in mind, let’s look Subtil Grotesk. Many of us will realise that Subtil stays very true to the classical notion of a Grotesque bar the coldness. Its warmth and elegance are masterly understated, near invisible. Yet the presence of the humanistic features can be felt without a shade of a doubt. As you read these notes on our site, you will realise that Thomas Thiemich is not a newcomer to sanserif type design — you are in very experienced hands here. With Subtil Grotesk, Thiemich manages to approach the tipping point of this hybrid sanserif class. Subtil is right where the traditional Grotesque gets transformed. A face where the proverbial coldness is embraced by warmth, neutrality concedes to sensitivity, and a strict design construction is finally allowed to be playful. But there is more: Subtil Grotesk remains a very legible typeface, which it achieves not without a generous x-height. For the die-hard graphic designers seeking the most out of a font, Subtil is equipped with many extensive typographic features, which turn Subtil Grotesk into an apt and reliable design tool. And what is there better than a fabulous tool! Subtil Grotesk consists of eight weights of roman designs. Its character set includes stylistic alternates, extensive range of figures (each in tabular and proportional widths); fractions; comprehensive superiors, inferiors, numerators and denominators; case sensitive punctuation sets; mathematical and a wide range of monetary symbols; arrows; standard and discretionary ligatures (with their stylistic alternates); and a complete range of accents for all Western, Central and East European languages based on the Latin script. Subtil Grotesk fonts are available in OTF CFF, TTF, WOFF, and WOFF2 formats. Legacy font formats are available on request.

Published by Type By

Classification: sans

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