Black

Black Regular

Black Regular All Caps

Black Regular Small Caps

Black Regular

Black Regular All Caps

Black Regular Small Caps

Black Regular

Black is a rigid typeface that is available in a single style. Originally developed for the Formist identity, Black has been expanded to cover an extended latin character set. Black is the result of an experiment into creating a typeface using severely limited proportions. Designed on a limited grid of square units, Black attempts to interpret each glyph using the fewest units possible, while maintaining personality and at a least a modicum of legibility.

Because of its systematic, grid based design, Black, on the surface, appears to be a pixel typeface. However it was not designed out of nostalgia and retains none of the touchstones of a pixel typeface; instead, Black focusses on squeezing the most out of its self-imposed limitations. With no fixed x-height and metrics that allow the corners of glyphs to touch one another, Black embraces an inflexible and extensive set of idiosyncrasies built from a pure, geometric proposition.

Usage Notes

Black's forms are intended to be as minimal as possible. However there are instances where characters need to be more complex to increase legibility for use at small sizes. The uppercase is more traditional in design, with a fixed cap height, whereas the small caps follows the same rules as the lowercase.

The kerning and metrics of Black are quite strict and can produce some interesting results. All the glyphs have uniform sidebearings and where required, have been kerned to either interlock or kiss the corners of neighbouring glyphs. These metrics create some interesting glyph pairings and combinations which work best at display sizes.

Leading should be set depending on the glyphs being used and how you want them to interact. A good starting point is to work in increments of 12.5%. For instance, at 75% leading, uppercase characters without accents will be separated by one grid unit and at 62.5% they will touch each other.

Styles

Black Regular

Design

Mark Gowing
Alexander Tanazefti

Mastering

Ben Kiel

Features

One Weight
Small Caps
Oldstyle Figures
Alternate o

Specimen Document

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Language Support

Black features full support of the following languages: Abenaki, Afaan Oromo, Afar, Afrikaans, Albanian, Alsatian, Amis, Anuta, Aragonese, Aranese, Aromanian, Arrernte, Arvanitic (Latin), Asturian, Atayal, Aymara, Azerbaijani, Bashkir (Latin), Basque, Belarusian (Latin), Bemba, Bikol, Bislama, Bosnian, Breton, Cape Verdean Creole, Catalan, Cebuano, Chamorro, Chavacano, Chichewa, Chickasaw, Cimbrian, Cofán, Cornish, Corsican, Creek, Crimean Tatar (Latin), Croatian, Czech, Danish, Dawan, Delaware, Dholuo, Drehu, Dutch, English, Estonian, Faroese, Fijian, Filipino, Finnish, Folkspraak, French, Frisian, Friulian, Gagauz (Latin), Galician, Ganda, Genoese, German, Gikuyu, Gooniyandi, Greenlandic (Kalaallisut), Guadeloupean Creole, Gwich’in, Haitian Creole, Hän, Hawaiian, Hiligaynon, Hopi, Hotca˛k (Latin), Hungarian, Icelandic, Ido, Igbo, Ilocano, Indonesian, Interglossa, Interlingua, Irish, Istro-Romanian, Italian, Jamaican, Javanese (Latin), Jèrriais, Kaingang, Kala Lagaw Ya, Kapampangan (Latin), Kaqchikel, Karakalpak (Latin), Karelian (Latin), Kashubian, Kikongo, Kinyarwanda, Kiribati, Kirundi, Klingon, Kurdish (Latin), Ladin, Latin, Latino sine Flexione, Latvian, Lithuanian, Lojban, Lombard, Low Saxon, Luxembourgish, Maasai, Makhuwa, Malay, Maltese, Manx, Māori, Marquesan, Megleno-Romanian, Meriam Mir, Mirandese, Mohawk, Moldovan, Montagnais, Montenegrin, Murrinh-Patha, Nagamese Creole, Nahuatl, Ndebele, Neapolitan, Ngiyambaa, Niuean, Noongar, Norwegian, Novial, Occidental, Occitan, Onĕipŏt, Oshiwambo, Ossetian (Latin), Palauan, Papiamento, Piedmontese, Polish, Portuguese, Potawatomi, Q’eqchi’, Quechua, Rarotongan, Romanian, Romansh, Rotokas, Sami (Inari Sami), Sami (Lule Sami), Sami (Northern Sami), Sami (Southern Sami), Samoan, Sango, Saramaccan, Sardinian, Scottish Gaelic, Serbian (Latin), Seri, Seychellois Creole, Shawnee, Shona, Sicilian, Silesian, Slovak, Slovenian, Slovio (Latin), Somali, Sorbian (Lower Sorbian), Sorbian (Upper Sorbian), Sotho (Northern), Sotho (Southern), Spanish, Sranan, Sundanese (Latin), Swahili, Swazi, Swedish, Tagalog, Tahitian, Tetum, Tok Pisin, Tokelauan, Tongan, Tshiluba, Tsonga, Tswana, Tumbuka, Turkish, Turkmen (Latin), Tuvaluan, Tzotzil, Uzbek (Latin), Venetian, Vepsian, Volapük, Võro, Wallisian, Walloon, Waray-Waray, Warlpiri, Wayuu, Welsh, Wik-Mungkan, Wiradjuri, Wolof, Xavante, Xhosa, Yapese, Yindjibarndi, Zapotec, Zarma, Zazaki, Zulu, Zuni