Grey Text was conceived — together with Grey Display and Ultra Black — as part of the Grey Press. Since this typeface was my first text typeface, the original brief I set myself was quite broad.

Although most known for the design of Nobel, on the onset of this project I was fascinated by the quirky elements that Sjoerd Hendrik de Roos worked into Hollandse Mediaeval (1912), Erasmus (1923) and Grotius (1925). In the final version only the most apparent elements — the single story a and g — are remaining. After 60+ iterations the typeface veered away from the calligraphic starting point towards a modern model. A total 180° turnaround from angled towards vertical contrast.

The typeface is fully equipped with Opentype features such as: small caps and four styles of numerals. The ligatures feature has a uncommon side-effect. Besides the basic fi and fl ligatures, it also makes sure that multiple spaces are avoided. For a graphic designer this is a handy tool — now part of all my typefaces — that avoids double spaces the editor might have overlooked.

client: the Grey Press | weight: Book | date: 2008-2009 | format: Opentype | state: unpublished