A Year of Typographic Excellence: The Northern Block’s 2023 in Review.
Typeface: Cagney | Created using Gradientor tool by Anatoly Grashchenko
As we start planning for the upcoming year here at The Northern Block, we take the time to reflect and review our accomplishments throughout 2023. It was a memorable year, an award-winning year, a year that won us our most significant clients to date. And despite all the odds that surrounded us, 2024 looks like an incredible year that could see us better our previous achievements.
Our font library has grown with the addition of twelve type families, including our charity typeface, Maggy, which has now raised over £300 for Maggie’s Cancer Centre. We have five new variable fonts available on Adobe, and we’ve added variable support to twelve type families on our website. Fagun and Angusta snapped up international design awards at TDC69 and Communication Arts competitions. We’ve had several typefaces featured in leading publications within the creative industry, including Leida as Slanted’s ‘Typeface of the Month’ and Typodarium showcasing six of our fonts in their 2024 desk calendar. Our founder, Jonathan, held his first Typeface Design Workshop, and our Head of Brand, Donna, was invited to become an assessor for the ISTD Student Assessments.
Font Releases
Over the last year, our foundry has released twelve type families, five new and seven upgrades. 2023’s releases started with the introduction of Leida, our first serif type family in years. Designed by Jonathan Hill, Leida tips its hat to the Dutch masters, specifically Bram de Does, and balances functionality with a cheerful personality.
In Spring, we took part in the annual ‘36 Days of Type’ challenge on Instagram. Spurred on by our participation, we developed our charity typeface, Maggy, which encourages creatives to type for a cause. Maggy is more than a collection of characters; it’s a tribute to the unconventional, an arena for experimental design, and a testament to using typography for positive impact.
Next up was our award-winning Angusta typeface and Tasos Varipatis’ debut release with The Northern Block. Angusta is a condensed display serif inspired by 19th-century American wood type, with a design rooted in traditional Roman letterforms.
Hubsch dominated the summer and certainly grabbed the attention of creatives worldwide, with the likes of Creative Boom, It’s Nice That, and The Brand Identity all sharing their thoughts on this distinctive typeface. Hubsch is one-of-a-kind; it neither fits into the traditional blackletter style nor graffiti bracket; it’s created its own classification.
Autumn saw us bring a decade-old typeface back to life. Dekal (upgraded to version 2.0) is a revival of Blackline, designed initially by Wolf Magin in 1969. In this digital interpretation, lines and spacing are more expansive to help construct lowercase characters and improve screen rendering.
We closed the year strongly with the two releases. First up was Cagney—a modern grotesque slab with humanist touches, taking inspiration from the Egyptian style of the 19th century. The upgraded Metral typeface followed shortly after—a meticulously crafted geometric sans-serif that strikes a balance between precision and approachability.
Alongside developing new products, we’re continuously reviewing our legacy fonts. Over the year, we upgraded Byker, Facto, Hackman, Modum, and Monsal Gothic, improving weight distribution, advancing OpenType features, and adding variable support to selected type families.
Five variable fonts now available on Adobe
With variable technology gaining so much traction, we’re delighted to have added five new variable fonts to our Adobe library, including the popular Moret type family. Variable fonts allow you to choose a custom style to suit your project. Simply activate our fonts through your Creative Cloud subscription, and you can adjust the font’s appearance through weight, width, slant, and more!
In addition, we also upgraded our library, which now includes variable support for twelve type families. Variable fonts are included with selected full-family purchases, which can be viewed here.
From Maggy to Maggie’s
Since its release in September, our charity typeface Maggy has raised £320 for Maggie’s Cancer Centre in Newcastle upon Tyne. Through the Maggy typeface, we aim to harness the power of typography to drive change and make a meaningful impact on Maggie’s. The charity provides free support for families dealing with cancer, and one which lies very close to the hearts of the team here at The Northern Block. The charitable idea was born from the experiences of our Head of Brand, Donna Wearmouth, who experienced Maggie’s Newcastle during her dad’s treatment.
“It really opened my eyes to how important breakout spaces are for families dealing with cancer. It was a welcoming and calm environment, away from the sights and sounds of a hospital ward. We could be a typical family having a cuppa and a catch-up.
Working alongside Tasos has been a pleasure. He has elevated this typeface to another level, and through great teamwork, we’ve produced an outstanding piece of charitable work!”
The Northern Block has committed to donating all proceeds from the sale of this typeface to Maggie’s in Newcastle upon Tyne. If you’d like to join us in making a difference one letter at a time, you can purchase Maggy exclusively through our website. Donate. Download. Do Good.
Prestigious award for Fagun at Type Directors Club
In April, Fagun was awarded the prestigious ‘Certificate of Typographic Excellence’ at the TDC69 Competition. Standing amongst the best type designers in the world, Jonathan Hill’s Fagun typeface has been published in the highly respected annual, ‘The World’s Best Typography: The 44th Annual of Type Directions Club 2023’ and showcased in eight globally touring exhibitions, including the 69th Awards Exhibition in New York. Read more →
Angusta typeface receives ‘Award of Excellence’
Tasos Varipatis, our senior type designer, released his debut typeface, Angusta, which went on to win an ‘Award of Excellence’ in the 14th Annual Typography Competition by Communication Arts. From 1,262 entries submitted, Angusta was one of sixteen successful projects to snap up an award in the Typeface Design category for its ‘creative excellence and quality of execution’. Tasos shares his thoughts on the win:
‘I’m absolutely thrilled that my debut typeface with The Northern Block has clinched a prestigious award. It’s been an incredible journey, and I am more than excited about what the future holds.’
Angusta will feature in the January/February 2024 Typography Annual, with over 25,000 copies distributed worldwide. Read more →
Slanted’s Typeface of the Month
In April, Slanted Publishers chose Leida as their ‘Typeface of the Month’. Leida also received a write-up on Creative Boom—one of the UK’s leading magazines dedicated to the creative industry and was featured in the ‘Best of Behance’ curated gallery. This nod of approval for Leida is particularly special, given our type foundry is better known for creating modernist geometric sans.
Typodarium 2024
We’re thrilled to have six typefaces included in this year’s desk calendar, which features 366 fonts from 292 type designers. Throughout this year, you’ll find Fagun on March 6, Loew Variable on April 30, Tondu on May 18, Leida on July 4, Mekon on September 23, and ParadroidMono Soft on December 9, 2024. Copies are available from Slanted Publishers.
Our first Typeface Design Workshop
The Northern Block’s founder, Jonathan Hill, held his first in-person Typeface Design Workshop in Newcastle upon Tyne, providing a four-hour exploration of typeface design methods and practices developed by our foundry over the past decade. The workshop offered the opportunity to discover what makes a great typeface and the basic principles of designing one—setting the next generation of type designers on the right path for creating legible, readable, and technically functional typefaces.
Register your interest for one of our future Typeface Design Workshops.
Donna joined the ISTD assessment team
In April, our Head of Brand, Donna, was invited to become an assessor for the Main ISTD Student Assessments held in Leeds. Having been a member of the society since 2010, Donna joined the team to review the diverse typographic work coming out of universities this year. Donna shares her experience,
“It was an incredible honour and privilege to have the opportunity to join the ISTD team at Leeds Beckett University. It was a fantastic weekend and I am already looking forward to attending next year’s assessments.”
I Love Typography Foundry Partner
The Northern Block is now a foundry partner on I Love Typography, where you can currently try and buy nine of our fonts, with more due to be added this year. I Love Typography is a leading voice in the world of type design, curating thousands of quality fonts from independent foundries worldwide. Alongside their innovative e-commerce platform, their popular typography blog showcases some of the world’s best type designers.
Fonts In Use Sponsorship
We also became a foundry sponsor on Fonts In Use, joining twelve well-respected partners to support the growth of this independent archive of current and historic typographic work.
From bestselling book covers to The Beatles documentary, Netflix title sequences to The Division gameplay, our custom and retail fonts continue to define brands worldwide. We love seeing our fonts out in the wild! Please email us or add your project on Fonts in Use.
Looking forward…
We have many exciting projects and collaborations already underway here at The Northern Block. Be sure to follow us on Instagram for all those sneak peeks, and don’t forget to sign up for our newsletter to receive exclusive discounts on new font releases!
Once again, a big thank you to all of our customers, clients, and collaborators who’ve we’ve had the pleasure of working with in 2023.