The Northern Block is an independent type foundry internationally recognised for producing modernist fonts for brands, creatives and makers.

 Latest Releases

 

Zabawa
A playful handwritten typeface with a distinctive personality

Zabawa is a playful handwritten typeface that explores the possibilities of the pointed brush tool, capturing a distinctive hand-drawn personality. Light and rhythmic forms give a sense of freshness and natural flow, with each stroke telling a story reminiscent of playful doodles on a napkin, or spontaneous scribbles on a shopping list.

 

Dekal v2.0
A revival typeface with three interchangeable line styles

Dekal is a revival typeface of Blackline, designed initially by Wolf Magin in 1969. The contrast between thick and thin parallel lines creates a unique visual identity familiar in the dry transfer era of the late 1960s and early 1970s. In this digital interpretation, lines and spacing are more expansive to help construct lowercase characters and improve screen rendering.

 

Hubsch
An experimental sans-serif that follows its own rules

Hubsch is an experimental sans-serif that follows the drawing principles of a chisel-tipped marker pen where sharp angles meet flowing curves in a balance between thick and thin strokes. The result is a distinctive, brutalist typeface that copes well in both small and large-scale situations. The font includes seven weights with obliques plus variable support.

Cagney
A modern grotesque slab serif in 14 styles

Cagney is a modern grotesque slab with humanist touches. The inspiration comes from the Egyptian style of the 19th century. Outsized ball terminals and off-track angles, mix with heavy and light strokes, to give an unexpected dynamic. Applying deep cuts and ink traps makes an impactful typeface, compatible with modern-day scenarios.

 

Maggy
A charity typeface encouraging creatives to type for a cause

Maggy is a versatile and captivating display typeface, sparked by our participation in the annual ‘36 Days of Type’ event. What started as an exciting 36-day challenge has flourished into a remarkable typeface designed with purpose. The Northern Block has committed to donating all proceeds from the sale of this typeface to cancer charity, Maggie’s.

 

Angusta
A condensed display serif with a contemporary twist in 12 styles

Angusta is a highly versatile and elegant display serif type family that draws inspiration from American wood type of the 19th century. The font features an extra-condensed design with tightly spaced letterforms. High contrast between thick and thin strokes gives Angusta a bold, striking appearance that is perfect for headlines, titles, and other large-scale typography.

Latest News

 

RELEASES

Perfectly Imperfect; it’s time to play with Zabawa—The Northern Block’s newest handwritten typeface. Read more

 

RELEASES

The Northern Block releases Cagney—A typeface that smacks of prohibition Americana, dipped in psychedelia.

NEWS

Award-winning Angusta typeface features in the January/February 2024 Typography Annual, published by Communication Arts.

 

RELEASES

The Northern Block re-releases Dekal—Bringing a revival typeface out to play, in a retro future near you.

NEWS

A Year of Typographic Excellence: The Northern Block’s 2023 in Review. A Year of Typographic Excellence.

 

FONTS IN USE

Radim Malinic of Brand Nu Studio utilises Moret for two of his latest book releases, Creativity For Sale and Mindful Creative.

 

Our Approach

 
The Northern Block font customisation

Customise it

We’ve been making typefaces for some of the world’s leading companies for the best part of a decade. And out of this, have concluded that no two type design projects are the same. Work together uniquely to discover what font you want to make and learn to understand the details behind its making.

Modify it

Modifying a typeface together can be a faster cost-effective solution when budgets and deadlines don’t allow for a design made from scratch. You may have been working with one of our existing fonts and would like to have an exclusive version to create a unique visual identity.

The Northern Block font language extensions

Expand it

The Northern Block, in collaboration with trusted partners around the globe, has the experience and expertise to expand a font to cover the following languages; Arabic, Cyrillic, Simplified Chinese, Traditional Chinese, Georgian, Greek, Hebrew, Japanese, Korean, Latin, Thai and Indic.

 

Selected Clients