FF Unit Slab Mag by Alexander Roth

�� Unit Slab

⇢ ▶ ⇢ → � � → � ⇢ ⇢ →

ff Unit Slab Regular

51 pt

While ff Unit is

40 pt

ff Meta’s “grown up

34 pt

sister”, ff Unit Slab and

30 pt

ff Meta Serif are more like

25pt

second cousins. While ff Meta’s

21 pt

seriffed companion plays up all of the

19 pt

organic quirks found in the original sans,

17 pt

ff Unit Slab’s serifs are decidedly no-nonsense

15pt

and un-selfconscious. The sturdy and plain forms of

13 pt

the original lent themselves to a very straightforward serif

10 pt

treatment, inspired in part by mid-20th century typewriters, particularly where

8 pt

serifs have been left off of the left sides of stems to keep the counterforms open. This typeface made

6 pt

its debut in the corporate identity of Edenspiekermann, Erik Spiekermann’s new Berlin- and Amsterdam-based design consultancy.

→ Typeface Waterfall

� → →�

→ Ultra

→ Black

→ Bold

→ Medium

→ Regular

→ Light

→ Thin

a a a

→∂

→ Weight Overview

�

�� FontShop International

� cm

�

�� Unit Slab Medium | S��, S��, S�� | 2009

⇠

�

△

�∞

bullets

�.� �.�

brackets and arrows

{[()]}

�

�∆x

�.�

△

�

⇠

�

△

�

�.�

⇠

�.�

�

△

� AR��.��

⇠

� unit

�.� �.� � inch

�

⇠ ↰

� © fsi

�

��

arrow set �

dotted arrows

�

� �� Ω

�.�

�

IIIIII

�.�

��°

↳

▲

�

⇠⇡⇢⇣ ↰↱↲↳

arrow set �

�

weights

regular

�

▲

��°

�

�.�

▲

��°

�Ω

�

T�

�.�

�

� inch � �.�� cm

�

▶ Erik Spiekermann Erik Spiekermann, born 1947, studied History of Art and English in Berlin. He is information architect, type designer (FF Meta, FF Meta Serif, ITC Officina, FF Govan, FF Info, FF Unit, LoType, Berliner Grotesk and many corporate typefaces) and author of books and articles on type and typography. He was founder (1979) of MetaDesign, Germany’s largest design firm with offices in Berlin, London and San Francisco. Projects included corporate design programmes for Audi, Skoda, Volkswagen, Lexus, Heidelberg Printing and wayfinding projects like Berlin Transit, Düsseldorf Airport and many others. In 1989 he started FontShop, a company for production and distribution of electronic fonts. Erik is board member of ATypI and the German Design Council and Past President of the istd, International Society of Typographic Designers, as well as the iiid. In 2001 he left MetaDesign and is now a partner in Edenspiekermann with offices in Amsterdam, Berlin, London and San Francisco. He redesigned The Economist magazine in London for its relaunch in 2001. His book for Adobe Press, “Stop Stealing Sheep” is in its second edition as well as published in German and in Russian. His corporate font family for Nokia was released in 2002. In 2003 he received the Gerrit Noordzij Award from the Royal Academy in Den Haag. His type system db Type for Deutsche Bahn was awarded the Federal German Design Prize in gold for 2006. In May 2007 he was the first designer to be elected into the Hall of Fame by the European Design Awards for Communication Design.

→ About the Designers

Erik is Honorary Professor at the University of the Arts in Bremen and in 2006 received an honorary doctorship from Pasadena Art Center. He was made an Honorary Royal Designer for Industry by the rsa in Britain in 2007 and Ambassador for the European Year of Creativity and Innovation by the European Union for 2009.

▶ Christian Schwartz Christian Schwartz, born 1977, is principal of Schwartzco Inc., a New York-based type design and consultation firm and partner, with London-based designer Paul Barnes, in the typefoundry Commercial Type. A graduate of Carnegie Mellon University, Schwartz worked at MetaDesign Berlin and Font Bureau prior to starting Schwartzco in 2006 and Commercial Type in 2008. Schwartz has published fonts with many respected independent foundries and designed proprietary typefaces for corporations and publications worldwide. Schwartz and Barnes began an ongoing collaboration in 2005 with their extensive typeface system for The Guardian, which lead to honors from the Design Museum and d&ad. The two have completed custom typefaces for clients including Esquire, the Empire State Building, The New York Times, and Condé Nastʼs business magazine. Schwartz and Barnes have been named two of the 40 most influential designers under 40 by Wallpaper*, and Schwartz was included in Time’s 2007 “Design 100”. Schwartz was awarded the prestigious Prix Charles Peignot in 2007, given every four or five years by the Association Typographique Internati-

onale to a designer under 35 who has made “an outstanding contribution to the field of type design”. Schwartz’s work also has been honored by the Cooper-Hewitt National Design Museum, the New York Type Director’s Club, the American Institute of Graphic Arts and the International Society of Typographic Designers. In 2007, Schwartz and Erik Spiekermann were awarded a gold medal by the German Design Council (Rat für Formgebung) for the typeface system they designed for the Deutsche Bahn.

▶ Kris Sowersby Kris Sowersby graduated from the Wanganui School of Design in 2003. After brief employment as a graphic designer he started the klim Type Foundry in 2005, currently based in Wellington, New Zealand. His first retail typeface, Feijoa, was released onto the international market in 2007. National, Sowersby’s second retail release, won a Certificate of Excellence from the Type Designers Club, New York in 2008. Since then he has received two more Certificates of Excellence (Serrano, Hardys) and worked on various custom and retail typefaces including ff Meta Serif, the seriffed sibling of the renowned ff Meta. Sowersby’s reputation for typeface design has lead to his working with, and for, contemporary typographic luminaries such as Christian Schwartz, Erik Spiekermann, Chester Jenkins, House Industries, dna Design and Pentagram. Sowersby’s typefaces combine historical knowledge with contemporary craftmanship & finish. The klim Type Foundry markets its typefaces exclusively through Village.

When Erik and Christian first started work on ff Meta Serif, they were also planning to do ff Unit Slab, either at the same time or right after ff Meta Serif was released. They figured that since ff Meta and ff Unit have so much in common, it would be smart to make two serif families that could be used together, along with either of the sans serifs. ff Meta, which has more organic details, was going to be the more traditional serif text face. ff Unit seemed like it would adapt well to being a clean and contemporary slab serif, especially since the i and I in the sans already showed them what the serifs would look like. Kris and Christian actually worked together to rough out complete ranges of testwords for both families at the same time, and ff Unit Slab sat halffinished while ff Meta Serif was completed.

work

about

blog

news

what how manifesto alliances people jobs cont

visit: www.edenspiekermann.com

edenspiekermann_ manifesto

↑

3. We don’t give Unless we can your question. We work for your customers.

latest news → ff Unit Slab in Use

Challenge us.

We don't give answers.

We are n suppliers

recent projects

tact

↑ image: LiveSurface®

answers. n explore .

not s.

Talk to us.

Trust us.

contact

Pay us.

Thin Thin Italic

Light Light Italic

Regular Regular Italic

Medium Medium Italic

Bold Bold Italic

Black Black Italic

Ultra Ultra Italic

Egyptian Pharaohs ancient Egyptian rulers of all periods

Mediterranean Sea meaning: in the middle of the land

Khafre Pyramids 1st Wonder of the Ancient World

Hieroglyphic Art recording agricultural products

Byzantine realm during thousand-year existence

Revolution 1952 military coup d’état on July 23

Cairo Luxur Nile

the City of a thousand Minarets

→ All Weights Upright and Italic Overview

Thin Italic Thin

Light Italic Light

Regular Italic Regular

Medium Italic Medium

Bold Italic Bold

Black Italic Black

Ultra Italic Ultra

ancient civilizations defined as a complex society of

10th millennium BC

a conception or birth of Jesus

Khamaseen wind

local wind blowing in Africa

King Nectanebo I

Thirtieth dynasty of Egypt

Neolithic culture same family for generations

Turco-Circassian Peoples of north Caucasus

29 Governorates administered by governors

â&#x2020;&#x2019; All Weights Italic and Small Caps Overview

ABCDEFGH NOPQRSTUV �bcdefghij pqrstuvwxy 123456789 1

→ Work in Progress Notes

HIJKLM VWXYZ jklmno yzäöüß 90!?& 5

Try making these a little shorter, to put emphasis on the outer serifs.

Too long.

Try adding a short serif on the outside.

Much too heavy – did I make this mistake in the original too?

Too long.

Smooth out a bit.

Try trimming these serifs off.

A bit too narrow.

10. Slightly too long. 11. Take more weight out on top than bottom. 12. A bit narrow, and the horizontals are 5–7 units heavy. 13. This part should be almost as heavy as the vertical curves below. 14. The lightest point should be here. 15. Pull center to right a bit – this is looking a little too much like Swift as it is. 16. Try this stroke a bit heavier. 17. Light? 18. This should be weighted more like the horizontals on E F L etc. 19. These shouldn’t look quite so much like they come together, if that makes sense.

hamburgefontsiv hamburgefontsiv hamburgefontsiv hamburgefontsiv 2

HAMBURGEFONTSIV HAMBURGEFONTSIV HAMBURGEFONTSIV HAMBURGEFONTSIV 7

1. Should match o hairline (and hairlines in top bowl).

5. Use alt with no inside left-hand serifs.

1. Even f in this weight may be a little wide at the top.

2. Just a few units, to make the curve more supple.

2. See sans italic for bowl shapes.

4. A little smoother, and curl up a little more at the end.

3. Use alt with no inside left-hand serifs. 4. Slightly more boxy counterform.

→ Work in Progress Notes

G-bars should all look more or less like they’re at the same height. I wonder if the top serif is a bit too short?

7. Just a little.

More angle in Thin, Black, Ultra or less on Regular. I prefer Black & Ultra but think they’re a little too extreme, so lean them over a bit and decrease the angle on this one –

or do whatever looks best to you.

See two alts in vfb, and apply to all weights. By the way, if you’re not adding a ‘beak’ in the Roman, why add one in the italic?

hamburgefontsiv hamburgefontsiv hamburgefontsiv hamburgefontsiv 3

HAMBURGEFONTSIV HAMBURGEFONTSIV HAMBURGEFONTSIV HAMBURGEFONTSIV 15

6. See sans italic. 7. Move arch down a bit? See sans italic. 8.

The tails are softest on the Black, less soft on the Ultra and Thin, and really really tight and almost pointy/boxy on the Regular. I think the Black is too soft and the Ultra is just right, so pull the curve

here out a bit and see vfb for the Regular (applies to all tails).

9. I want to feel the angle more on this side of the counterform. 10. Try curling these up a little more as they go toward the ter- minal, to keep the eâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s from looking like they're falling forward.

11. Top could be slightly narrower. Take a little weight off the serif if you have to. 12. The forms look great, for the most part, but the spacing on these lowercases is much too tight, especially when you see them mixed with the roman.

13. This can come up just a little bit further. 14. More rectangular, but make sure to maintain the feeling of the italic angle on the right side. 15. Try stiffening up the spine a bit. 16. Is the spacing a bit tight?

ff Meta Serif with ff Unit Slab

ff Meta Serif with ff Unit

ff Meta Serif with ff Meta

The metric system is a decimalized system of measurement based on the metre and the gram. It exists in several variations, with different choices of base units, though these do not affect its day-to-day use. Since the 1960s, the International System of Units (SI), explained further below, is the internationally recognized standard metric system. Metric units of mass, length, and electricity are widely used around the world for both everyday and scientific purposes. The main advantage of the metric system is that it has a single base unit for each physical quantity. All other units are powers of ten or multiples of ten of this base unit. Unit conversions are always simple because they will be in the ratio of ten, one hundred, one thousand, etc. All

ff Unit Slab with ff Meta Serif (headline only)

ff Unit Slab with ff Unit

ff Unit Slab with ff Meta

A brief history of the metric system

A brief history of A brief history of the metric system the metric system

A brief history of the metric system

ff Unit Slab works well as headlines or emphasis for te lines and emphasis in ff Unit Slab text donâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t look am work at all is ff Meta Serif emphasis in ff Unit or ff Un â&#x2020;&#x2019; Possible Combinations

ff Unit with ff Unit Slab

ff Unit with ff Meta Serif

ff Meta with ff Unit Slab

ff Meta with ff Meta Serif

A brief history of the metric system

ext in ff Meta Serif, ff Meta, or ff Unit. ff Meta headmazing, but they do work. The only combo that doesnâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t nit Slab text, but most people would know better.

FF Unit Slab Thin � � � � � F � � � � � � � � � t � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � �

→ Character Set

� � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � �

� � � � � a � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � �

� � b � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � �

� � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � �

� � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � �

� � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � �

� � � h � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � �

� � S i � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � �

� � T � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � �

� � U � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � �

� � � l � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � �

� � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � �

� � � n � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � �

� � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � �

FF Unit Slab Thin Italic � � � � � � F � � I � � � � � � � � t � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � �

� � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � �

� � a � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � �

� � b � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � �

� � � c � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � �