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A blackletter built for reading, not just spectacle

Givry is a blackletter typeface by Tom Grace, modelled on the bâtarde flamande — a 15th-century writing hand used in France and present-day Belgium. Grace researched the historical source to produce a typeface that is neither derivative nor experimental, but historically grounded. Though expressive enough for display use, Givry was created for continuous text, requiring significant refinement to reconcile the script's inherent irregularity with the demands of typographic consistency.

Set in Givry

Insights

The bâtarde flamande's distinctive rhythm comes from a slight rightward lean, most visible in the 'f' and long 's', supported by round forms fused for spatial economy.
Givry ships in a single weight with OpenType features including swashes, multiple stylistic sets, standard and discretionary ligatures, and support for over forty languages.
The foundry describes balancing the style's inherent letterform variation with the consistency continuous text requires as a central design challenge.
Givry received a Typographica Best Typefaces recognition in 2008, the year of its release.