Industry: Design

Tanja Family

A serifed typeface made entirely from dots

Tanja is a Renaissance dot typeface designed by Christian Schwartz and Paul Barnes, originating as a proposed logo for a German publisher. Based on the monolinear Marian 1554 and following historical models of Garamond and Granjon, it renders serifed letterforms through dots that vary gradually in size. Designed as a display typeface for sizes above 30pt, it includes small capitals, swash letters, ligatures, and multiple numeral styles.

Set in Tanja

Insights

Dots vary gradually in size rather than remaining uniform, adding optical complexity to what appears a simple system.
The design descends from Marian 1554, itself a monolinear interpretation of Garamond and Granjon — making Tanja a third-order historical remix.
The project originated as a proposed publisher logo before being developed as a typeface family.
Includes small capitals, swash letters, ligatures, and multiple numeral styles despite its display-only scope.