Typeface Design for Retros
Brush meets chisel: a typeface built from two opposing tools
Retros, by Schrift Foundry, fuses two distinct lettering traditions: the fluid, high-contrast strokes of broad-nib brush calligraphy and the sharp, precise lines of chiseled stone inscription. Character proportions draw on 1960s East German, Hungarian, and Bulgarian calligraphers alongside modern English calligraphy, while tombstone carvings at Highgate Cemetery in London also influenced the design. The typeface supports 288 languages and includes alternates, discretionary ligatures, and two sets of circled figures—white in black circles and black in white circles.
Set in Retros
Insights
- The design synthesizes two physically opposite mark-making tools—flexible brush and rigid chisel—as a core structural premise.
- Proportional reference spans multiple mid-century Eastern European calligraphic traditions rather than a single national source.
- Highgate Cemetery tombstone inscriptions are cited as a direct influence on the design.
- Two distinct circled-figure sets (white-on-black and black-on-white) are included as discrete OpenType features.
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