Karl

A rejected 1964 Shell pitch resurfaces as a full type family

Karl is a rounded sans-serif typeface designed by Laurenz Brunner as a homage to Karl Gerstner's 1964 unproduced identity proposal for Shell. Gerstner, working with agency GGK, conceived a rounded sans to evoke oil viscosity and compensate for the light-bleed effect of backlit signage seen while driving — a pitch rejected despite applause. Brunner discovered the archived project during an apprenticeship at GGK and expanded it into a full family, adding multiple weights, a monospace, and a 'phatty' variant.

Set in Karl