Signifier
Klim Type Foundry · Kris Sowersby · 2020
A Brutalist response to the 17th-century Fell Types, Sowersby recasts their letterforms in ones and zeros by embracing machine logic over analogue mimicry.
About
Signifier draws on the English Roman from Oxford's Fell Types – cut in the 1670s and attributed to Nicolaes Briot – and Granjon's Pica Italic, but pursues no conventional revival. Sowersby worked deliberately with the computer, snapping details to grids and embracing interpolation artefacts in lighter weights to produce letterforms that acknowledge the nature of digital type. Sharp triangular head serifs, rectangular baseline serifs and Charter-inflected chopped terminals give it a distinctive precision that holds from text to display sizes.
Classification
Drawn from the 17th-century Fell Types held at Oxford University Press – the English Roman attributed to Nicolaes Briot (c.1670s, ~13.5pt) and the italic from Granjon's Pica Italic – but recast as a digital Brutalist work rather than a conventional revival. Sowersby deliberately deleted curves, snapped details to grids and embraced interpolation artefacts in lighter weights. Rectangular baseline serifs, triangular head serifs (referencing Licko's Matrix, 1986) and Matthew Carter-influenced chopped terminals define the texture. Available as a variable font (weight axis 100–900). Klim classifies it internally as Modern Oldstyle. Red Dot Grand Prix winner 2021.