{"id":33924,"date":"2024-08-14T13:22:46","date_gmt":"2024-08-14T10:22:46","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/typetype.org\/fr\/?p=33924"},"modified":"2026-05-15T10:16:44","modified_gmt":"2026-05-15T07:16:44","slug":"branching-out-how-scandinavian-sans-tt-firs-grew-and-found-its-font-pair","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/typetype.org\/fr\/blog\/branching-out-how-scandinavian-sans-tt-firs-grew-and-found-its-font-pair\/","title":{"rendered":"Branching out: How Scandinavian Sans TT Firs Grew and Found Its Font Pair"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

In 2023, we breathed new life into the beloved Scandinavian sans serif TT Firs Neue<\/a> by dramatically refining and renewing the typeface to comply with cutting-edge standards. Soon after, we introduced the text font pair for this typeface \u2014 an elegant TT Firs Text.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This article is dedicated to how it all began, why we decided to update TT Firs Neue, what we added and modified, and how TT Firs Text<\/a> was born.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

How TT Firs planted roots<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

The story of\u00a0TT\u00a0Firs began back in\u00a02014 when TypeType<\/a> was just starting out. The idea for the font\u2019s design was born in\u00a0Helsinki: Ivan Gladkih, the studio\u2019s co-founder, went on\u00a0a\u00a0family trip there for a\u00a0weekend.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n

\u00abWe went to the Fazer caf\u00e9, which was initially just a caf\u00e9 named after its founder. Later, they began producing the famous chocolate under this brand. This dessert shop is located in the city center of Helsinki and was founded in 1891. It looks like a simple canteen, but they serve amazing signature desserts, so the place is always crowded. The caf\u00e9 blends seamlessly with the surrounding area. There, I saw an old sign with the Fazer name. When I looked closer, I thought it was something very eye-catching, unique, and interesting. And this is how the idea of designing a Scandinavian-themed font came to my mind. I was inspired by the letter \u2019A\u2019 on the sign with a massive horizontal stroke at the top and began sketching the future Firs.\u00bb <\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Ivan Gladkih, CTO, co-founder of TypeType<\/em><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n
\n

\u00abAt that time, we drew everything intuitively, without any research. We made a mood board with Scandinavian design references and Scandinavian-themed fonts. While designing this sans serif, my primary concern was what people would want to use it for and how it would blend with designs. Implementing the Cyrillic alphabet was a particular challenge because there are no similar fonts featuring Cyrillic glyphs. If we used the horizontal element of the letter \u2019A\u2019 in the Cyrillic letters \u2019\u0414\u2019 and \u2019\u041b,\u2019 which is a reference to the 1960s of the Soviet period, it would be logical to design other pseudo-soviet letters\u2014and that\u2019s how branchy \u2019\u041a\u2019 and \u2019\u0416\u2019 were designed. Overall, I relied entirely on my personal sense of things.\u00bb<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Ivan Gladkih, CTO, co-founder of TypeType<\/em><\/span><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

So, in 2015, the first version of our Scandinavian sans serif came to life. The typeface consisted of 9 roman and 9 italic font styles, and the character set was minimal. The bold font style was rather solid but had nuances related to the distribution of contrast and weights. We will tell you more about that later. Nonetheless, the font turned out to be genuinely unique and definitely infused with a Scandinavian atmosphere. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n
\n

\u00abWe had a tradition at that time to name all fonts so that their names ended in \u2018s.\u2019 While I was thinking about how to name a Scandinavian sans serif, I realized that one of the distinctive features of Scandinavia is fir trees. This is how the font adopted the name TT Firs, which caught on and still exists in the third font\u2019s edition.\u00bb<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Ivan Gladkih, CTO, co-founder of TypeType<\/em><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

<\/p>\n\n\n\n

After the release of TT Firs, it lived a life of its own \u2014 we watched it from aside and saw many examples of people using it in their designs. Although it didn\u2019t feature hinting or any OpenType features, it was unique, captivating, and loved by users. That\u2019s why we considered updating and enhancing the typeface.
<\/p>\n\n\n\n

How TT Firs \u00abbranched out\u00bb and grew to become TT Firs Neue<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

We truly loved TT Firs. However, the more fonts we released, the better we understood that this Scandinavian sans serif is not keeping up with the quality of our font library. So, in 2017, we decided that it was time to get started on its revamp. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

First changes<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n

At that time, we collaborated with Filipp Nurullin, a guest typeface art director at TypeType<\/a>. He was the one to do the first revision of TT Firs and conduct the first research.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Filipp attempted to reimagine the font with artistic vision to make it more modern and effective for various projects. So, sharp angular cuts appeared in the font, for example, in the letter \u00abg,\u00bb which has a rounded part combined with a sharp angle. There is also a squared angle in the letter \u00abf.\u00bb On one hand, this element doesn\u2019t seem logical. On the other, it offers a unique way to highlight lowercase characters that previously looked more neutral.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Also, Filipp reworked the legs of \u00abA\u00bb and arms of \u00abK\u00bb and \u00ab\u0416\u00bb to make them look tougher, more intense and give them a European feel. Branchy letters from the previous version remained to serve as alternates. This way, we got a basic set of glyphs used in TT Firs by default and represented this font and an alternate set (spoiler: we\u2019ll keep following this logic with alternates while working on future iterations).
<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

During the work, it became clear that one of the unique features of Scandinavian typography is diacritical marks positioned inside letters. For instance, a characteristic letter \u00abU,\u00bb where the umlaut is often placed inside, like berries in a shot glass. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

So, diacritical marks are either integrated into letters, pressed up\u00a0against them, or\u00a0placed on\u00a0their side. We\u00a0made this peculiarity one of\u00a0our font\u2019s key features and emphasized its Scandinavian spirit by\u00a0designing a\u00a0set with such diacritics (a\u00a0similar but enhanced set remained in\u00a0the latest version of\u00a0TT\u00a0Firs Neue<\/a>).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n
\"\"<\/figure>\n<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

This update also contained numerous display ligatures. They were unexpected, unique, and added expressiveness and visual mass to the font.
<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n
\n

\u00abI think it\u2019s really cool that just by using these ligatures, designers can spice up the visual style of a letter, word, text, or logo without implementing any additional graphic elements. It may sound surprising, but I have never seen such ligatures in use. Although I would love to, because they are truly awesome and \u201esurvived\u201c until the current font version (only in a modified form \u2014 Ed. note).\u00bb <\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Ivan Gladkih, CTO, co-founder of TypeType<\/em><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

This is\u00a0how the reimagined version of\u00a0TT\u00a0Firs came to\u00a0be. We\u00a0released it\u00a0in\u00a02018 under the name TT\u00a0Firs Neue<\/a> (1.100). At\u00a0that time, the typeface included more than 900 glyphs (in\u00a0contrast to\u00a0the first version, which had about 400\u00a0glyphs). TT\u00a0Firs Neue, version 2.000, will feature more than 1700 glyphs\u2014but let\u2019s address everything in\u00a0turn.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Interestingly, TT Firs Neue\u2019s perception has been changing a lot. The more projects used it, the more neutral it seemed because it had become ubiquitous: we saw it in YouTube videos, branding, logos, and more. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n

\u00abThe font has become <\/em>visually neutral, however odd it may seem. All its expressive and super recognizable forms, such as triangular \u201e\u0414\u201c and \u201e\u041b,\u201c and \u201et,\u201c \u201ef,\u201c \u201eg,\u201c and \u201ej\u201c with squared angles, became ordinary as if they were always supposed to look like this. This came as a surprise to me. As the saying goes, font works in mysterious ways. At first, our typeface seemed something extraordinary, and after a while, you think it\u2019s just a font, and there\u2019s nothing special about its look.\u00bb<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Ivan Gladkih, CTO, co-founder of TypeType<\/em><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

A\u00a0new beginning: Designing TT\u00a0Firs Neue\u00a02.000<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

As time went on, the studio evolved and mastered new tools. Our fonts grew together with us. After transitioning to Glyphs, we got our hands on variation axes. This tool helps us create variable<\/a> fonts as well as maintain logic within a typeface. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

That\u2019s why, in\u00a02022, we\u00a0thought up\u00a0a\u00a0new makeover for TT\u00a0Firs Neue<\/a>, which had been loved by\u00a0both\u00a0us and our users. The font was excellent already, but we\u00a0decided that we\u00a0had to\u00a0make it\u00a0even better! We\u00a0meticulously revised the tiniest details and polished them to\u00a0perfection. As\u00a0a\u00a0result, we\u00a0didn\u2019t just update the font\u2014we practically rebuilt the typeface from scratch.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Part 1: Looking for imperfections<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

To begin with, our Lead Designer, Antonina Zhulkova, revised the existing TT Firs Neue and suggested potential improvements. Let\u2019s go through them together. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Note that we will often refer to the word \u00abweird\u00bb (or its synonyms) throughout the text. What do we mean when talking about the weirdness of a font or individual characters? We see it as a little flag: \u00abSomething stands out from the overall picture.\u00bb First, we quickly \u00abscan\u00bb the font, getting a sense of it. TT Firs Neue is harsh, Nordic, static, attractive, recognizable. It\u2019s easy to remember mainly because of the horizontal joints between diagonals. The letter \u00abA\u00bb Ivan mentioned earlier could serve as a logo for this font. Another detail forming the font\u2019s style is squared terminals in some characters. These are the integral parts of the typeface\u2019s character. The rest of the expressive elements are evaluated with a critical eye in terms of their purpose. We mark things as \u00abweird\u00bb or \u00abunexpected\u00bb and analyze whether this graphic contradicts the core concept of the font or emphasizes it. If something complements the font\u2019s character, enhancing and supporting it, we might keep it. If a detail has no influence on the font\u2019s character or goes against it, this detail doesn\u2019t belong here.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Visual compensators <\/h4>\n\n\n\n

It\u2019s essential to understand that the first version of TT Firs was designed in FontLab 5, and the previous update was created in Glyphs. So, we had to work with the file that was moved from FontLab 5 to Glyphs in a slightly incorrect format.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

This posed some challenges. For example, the previous font version contained ink traps in the bold styles. This added an extra flair to the font and addressed the issue of glyphs clumping in small point sizes. After moving to Glyphs, lighter font styles also acquired ink traps, but they only served as workarounds. During the revision, we came to two conclusions. On the one hand, these compensations had a functional purpose: to make variability work. On the other hand, they made bold characters look more expressive, and the overall graphics seemed inconsistent. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

For instance, the letter \u00abN\u00bb in the Thin font style usually looks calm, and in the Black font style, the compensators appear to transform its character slightly. However, if in \u00abN,\u00bb they are not excessively noticeable and have a technical function of not letting bold stems clamp with diagonals, in the letter \u00abM,\u00bb they become thinner and much more aggressive. And in the ampersand, they change their shapes again. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Thus, ink traps were not featured in all font styles and looked different even within one font style, creating visual noise.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Different overhangs in rounded characters<\/h4>\n\n\n\n

The logic of rounded characters was flawed. For example, the uppercase \u00abO\u00bb in the Thin font style looked circular but slightly stretched vertically. In the regular font style, it reached maximum roundness and expanded horizontally in Bold and Black. Lowercase characters made this effect even more prominent. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Different terminal character<\/h4>\n\n\n\n
\n

\u00abInterestingly, this was one of the features that helped me distinguish the old TT Firs Neue version from the new one if I spotted the font out on the street somewhere. These old terminals attract attention; I called them \u2019scorpion\u2019s tails.\u2019\u00bb <\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Marina Khodak, TypeType Lead Designer<\/em><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

For instance, the letter \u00aba\u00bb had a smooth and symmetrical terminal, where the left bracket part looked almost the same as the right one. Yes, it was a little more sloped on the left, but overall it looked similar. The letter \u00ab\u0437\u00bb has a filled oval on the right, while the left terminal flattens out, and the angle sharpens dramatically\u2014like the scorpion\u2019s tail before a strike.
<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

This is as noticeable in the uppercase \u00abS\u00bb and \u00ab\u0417\u00bb as in the rounded characters (\u00abC,\u00bb \u00abG\u00bb). The upper top part of the letters seems to lose its weight and roundness.
<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In general, both options have the right to be, but we needed to understand which one was better for our font: rounded, full terminals or sharp \u00abtails.\u00bb <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n

\u00abGiven that the font looks quite tough and serious, it was logical to make terminals resemble the ones in the letter \u2019a\u2019: symmetrical but without the loss of weight.\u00bb <\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Marina Khodak, TypeType Lead Designer<\/em><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

Another problem was that, in addition to the personalities, terminals had varying widths. This is clearly visible in the letters \u00abt,\u00bb \u00abj,\u00bb \u00abl,\u00bb and \u00abf.\u00bb For instance, the terminal of \u00abj\u00bb is significantly wider than that of the letter \u00abl,\u00bb and this looks odd, especially taking into consideration that the terminal\u2019s shape is quite expressive and eye-catching. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Inconsistent choice of forms <\/h4>\n\n\n\n

In older versions of our fonts, there is a noticeable trend to make the black font style more unusual. Now, we don\u2019t do that anymore. First, letterforms should be consistent in all font styles to make variability work properly (the number of points in font styles must be equal). Second, we consider such design choices a break in the font family\u2019s logic. That\u2019s why some forms of the old TT Firs didn\u2019t pass our new self-censorship.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

For example, the number 4 in the Black style had a sloped stem angle, allowing for more negative space inside. At that moment, we probably thought it was the most optimal decision. But it wasn\u2019t the best. We needed to find another one that wouldn\u2019t make us break the glyph\u2019s form. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Interletter spaces (aproshes) <\/h4>\n\n\n\n

Spacing required refinement. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Triangular characters <\/h4>\n\n\n\n

Inconsistent form logic, varying master widths, not enough slant in \u00abA,\u00bb \u00ab\u041b,\u00bb and \u00ab\u0414.\u00bb <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

This is a very important nuance because these junctions, horizontal bars, are a style-forming element of the font. In TT Firs, they were the most strongly expressed in comparison to the other typefaces in our collection. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

For instance, this junction is very noticeable in \u00abA\u00bb and \u00abV.\u00bb Note that that it looks the same in these two letters and the letter \u00abX.\u00bb However, in \u00abY\u00bb and \u00abW\u00bb it\u2019s not featured, making them just ordinary letters without any expressive elements. Thus, the logic of glyph design is broken within the Black font style. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

The same issue can be seen in the lowercase triangular characters (Cyrillic and Latin): \u00abv,\u00bb \u00abw,\u00bb \u00abx,\u00bb \u00aby,\u00bb \u00ab\u043b,\u00bb \u00ab\u0434,\u00bb \u00ab\u043c,\u00bb and \u00ab\u0438.\u00bb <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Let\u2019s now look at the whole family. Apart from ink traps in the bold masters, there is a lack of clarity in junctions. The letter \u00abM\u00bb in the Bold font style has a horizontal at the bottom but not at the tops. In the Thin font style, it\u2019s also only featured at the bottom. Moreover, the width of this detail varies in different font styles: in Thin, it\u2019s much wider than in Bold or Black.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

The letter \u00abN\u00bb doesn\u2019t include such elements at all. Besides, ink traps are present in the bold master but not in the thin one. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Take a look at the letter \u00abW.\u00bb Like \u00abM,\u00bb it should have featured a junction in the upper part of the diagonal intersection and sharp angles in the bottom part. However, for \u00abW\u00bb in the Thin style, all the intersections go through this junction and are not included in the bold master, and ink traps are not featured either.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

It looks like the logic was flawed both within individual font styles and between different font styles. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n

\u00abFor the update, we could consider the following approaches: shift towards expressiveness or turn away from it. For example, we could add ink traps everywhere. Within the team, we decided that, in that case, this graphic choice wouldn\u2019t refresh the project in any way, and opting out of it would make the font look more modern. Besides, there is no point in adding ink traps to light font styles as they are not clearly visible there. Another issue was whether to add junctions everywhere or get rid of all of them. If we had not integrated them, we would have had a more neutral design. Such a decision didn\u2019t suit TT Firs Neue but was implemented into TT Firs Text (we will tell about it later \u2014 Ed. note)\u00bb<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Marina Khodak, TypeType Lead Designer<\/em><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

So, we decided to keep horizontal elements. However, there was a question of how they should look: like in the \u00abM\u00bb or in the \u00abW.\u00bb These letters have the most noticeable difference between the construction of junctions. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

In her interview, Antonina suggested creating a more standardized version: add junctions like in the letter \u00abW\u00bb everywhere and make them medium in width. She made a sketch that inspired the further development of the font family. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Round characters <\/h4>\n\n\n\n
\n

\u00abWhen I began working on the font, I completely redesigned round characters. Looking at the old version of the font, at all the font styles featured there, we can see that the proportions of rectangular characters vary. For instance, in the Thin font style, the letter \u201eH\u201c is very narrow, and the correlation between \u201eH\u201c and \u201eO\u201c in this font style is not the same as in Regular, Bold, and Black. Essentially, the letter \u201eH\u201c in Thin was not just extremely narrow; it also appeared much narrower than the letter \u201eO.\u201c The \u201eO\u201c looked more round, and the \u201eH\u201c was very elongated vertically. At the same time, the Bold font style didn\u2019t feature this difference. So, it looked as if \u201eH\u201c expanded with increasing weight, changing its proportions.\u00bb<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Marina Khodak, TypeType Lead Designer<\/em><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

The same thing happened to lowercase characters. By comparing the letter \u00abo\u00bb and the single-storey \u00aba,\u00bb we can see that these letters have very similar proportions in the Thin font style: the \u00aba\u00bb is a little narrower than the \u00abo\u00bb but still looks more rounded. However, in the Regular font style, the \u00aba\u00bb becomes more vertical, while the \u00abo\u00bb expands horizontally. With increasing weight, this tendency, much like in uppercase letters, becomes more pronounced. The letter \u00aba\u00bb and similar characters become narrower, acquiring a vertically oriented form, and the letter \u00abo,\u00bb in contrast, becomes wider. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Besides, in the Thin font style, the left sides of the \u00abo\u00bb and the single-storey \u00aba\u00bb are similar to each other, but as the font weight increases, the similarity disappears. Also, the junctions of the round characters seem lighter in the Bold font style. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Marina eventually modified the letter proportions to solve this problem. We\u2019ll show and tell you more about the outcome below. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Characters with bowls <\/h4>\n\n\n\n

The next aspect on the review list was the broken logic of the correlation and distribution of the oval forms between font styles. Moreover, the bowl heights seem too large, especially in the Thin style. The letter \u00ab\u042f\u00bb is smaller and narrower than the letters \u00ab\u0420,\u00bb \u00ab\u0412,\u00bb and \u00ab\u042c.\u00bb<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n
\n

\u00abFor example, by comparing the letter \u201eP\u201c in the Thin and Regular masters, we can see the difference in correlation. In Regular, the waist is higher than in Thin, which makes the letter resemble a small flag on a stick. As if the oval is not an essential part of the letter but simply another additional element.\u00bb<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Marina Khodak, TypeType Lead Designer<\/em><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

S, \u0417, J<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

The character of these letters significantly stands out from the other glyphs in the set, which is especially noticeable in lowercase letters. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The upper left part of the bowl in \u00ab\u0417\u00bb is a little short. \u00abS\u00bb features excessive fluidity, \u00abJ\u00bb has an overly vibrant terminal\u2014the only letter in the font where the terminal cut is angled. In all other characters, terminals are cut horizontally. TT Firs is a static, harsh sans serif, and if such fonts have a dynamic look, this should be justified. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Ligatures <\/h4>\n\n\n\n

There were also concerns about the set of ligatures. For instance, the lowercase set includes \u00abfi\u00bb and doesn\u2019t include \u00abffi.\u00bb Certain uppercase ligatures are missing their reverse versions \u2014 there is \u00abAV\u00bb but no \u00abVA,\u00bb and \u00abTA\u00bb but no \u00abAT.\u00bb This is not a mistake but raises questions about what is really happening there.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

The logic between masters in the ligatures is also flawed. In the \u00abAR\u00bb letter combination, \u00abA\u00bb is narrower than \u00abR\u00bb in the Thin font style, and in the Black font style, this proportion shifts, and \u00abA\u00bb becomes significantly wider, taking up almost as much space as \u00abR.\u00bb The same goes for \u00abRJ.\u00bb <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

\u00abLA\u00bb features a weird connection, which is inconsistent in different masters.
<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Another odd design choice is the common horizontal stroke in \u00abEA.\u00bb It is interesting on its own but isn\u2019t completely thought through, so in the Black font style, everything clumps together, and the ligature looks more like the Cyrillic \u00ab\u0411\u0410\u00bb because the bottom part of \u00abE\u00bb forms an oval shape.
<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

\u00abTE\u00bb also looks strange and resembles a hair comb. When a letter becomes reminiscent of something else, it becomes an icon or an illustration. It seems the graphics may have been overemphasized during its design.
<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Finally, here is the \u00ab\u0410\u0422\u00bb ligature, which is unfortunately completely illegible because of its overcomplicated form. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

The Regular font style was too bold<\/h4>\n\n\n\n

After the first TT Firs update, the Regular font style looked too bold because of the font\u2019s transition from FontLab 5 into Glyphs. We make the conclusion about the excessive weight according to the similar distribution of weights in font styles of numerous typefaces. Users have expectations about how (in theory) a Regular or Bold font style should look, and font designers have the knowledge of values. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Antonina Zhulkova offered the following solution: to take all the values from the old TT Firs Neue and make the Regular font style a little lighter. At that moment, this solution was optimistic because we thought it would be a quick update where we would only be making minor adjustments to the font. However, after we decided on the total font makeover, Marina Khodak came up with another solution, which we will tell you about later. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Illogical stylistic set<\/h4>\n\n\n\n

Earlier, we mentioned that, apart from numerous peculiar ligatures, the first TT Firs had a set with built-in diacritics. The problem was that the diacritical marks were made only for several characters, and the design was inconsistent. In some glyphs, the diacritic was positioned closely to the letter; in others, it either had a squished form or was integrated into the character. Some characters didn\u2019t have diacritical marks at all. We needed to establish a uniform logic for everything.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Diacritics also varied between font styles. For example, in the recognizable \u00abO\u00bb with \u00abears,\u00bb a dieresis was implemented only in the Black font style. In Thin, the dots are placed next to the character, and in Regular, they appear stuck to the character. The same happens to the letter \u00abA\u00bb and some other characters. This looks odd and requires searching for a unified logic.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Addition to the character set<\/h4>\n\n\n\n

The language set of the extended Cyrillic alphabet for all letter cases (lowercase, uppercase, small capitals) didn\u2019t correspond to our current standards. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

There were no circled numerals, fractions, or small-cap numbers. <\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Other review points <\/h4>\n\n\n\n

Some characters\u2019 graphics needed revision. For instance, the logic of stylistic sets was broken; there was a set for the Cyrillic alphabet with fancy legs of \u00ab\u041a\u00bb and \u00ab\u0416,\u00bb but their relative letter \u00ab\u042f\u00bb didn\u2019t have such a leg. The middle stroke of \u00abE\u00bb was too short. The oval of the double-storey \u00abg\u00bb was too overpowering and looked unbalanced. Antonina suggested creating a more visible difference between ovals and try moving the bar between them. The shape of the branch in \u00ab\u0431\u00bb made the letter too similar to the number 6. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

The junctions at intersections; for example, in the letter \u00abn.\u00bb They served for optical compensation. In the Thin font style, the width of this element was only 1 point. It should be either more prominent or non-existent.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

The upper part of the stem in \u00ab\u00a0n,\u00a0\u00bb to the right of the arch, had the same weight as the rest. Antonina suggested making this \u00ab\u00a0thorn\u00a0\u00bb narrower. It is a common practice to make it a little thinner than the main stem. This way, it doesn’t look too sturdy and large. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Inconsistent diacritics. The Cyrillic and Latin breve were identical in some styles and different in others. The flame was too calligraphic and didn\u2019t fit the font\u2019s character.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Also, the updated graphics required the best brand-new spacing and hinting. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Part 2: Font refinements<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

At this stage, Marina Khodak became the project\u2019s Lead Designer. Building upon Antonina\u2019s research and finding her own solutions, Marina initiated a complete TT Firs Neue overhaul. For the 2.000 version, the font was practically rebuilt from scratch. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Let\u2019s cover the most interesting changes. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Balanced Regular font style<\/h4>\n\n\n\n

Regular is the main font style of the typeface. The task was to make it safe and easy for users to replace the old TT Firs Regular they initially used with TT Firs Neue without making everything look bolder. That\u2019s why it was very essential to maintain similarities between the basic font styles in the majority of the typefaces. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n

\u00abWhen it became clear that we were doing a more in-depth rework on the font, we re-calculated all font styles. As a result, the weight of the Regular style in TT Firs Neue 2.000 was 70 points \u2014 it was how it should be. Besides, we added a Normal font style to the font with a stem weight of 90 points. We often add this font style to sans serifs because of high demand. In the old TT Firs Neue, the Regular style weighed 90 points, and the new one \u2014 70. We kept the value of 90 points for the users who liked this specific weight in the previous version of the font.\u00bb <\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Marina Khodak, TypeType Lead Designer<\/em><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Designed universal logic for the set with compressed diacritics<\/h4>\n\n\n\n

To align the diacritical marks that stuck to letters to the overall logic, Marina analyzed the frequency of characters in Scandinavian languages. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n

\u00abOur font featured a set with these compressed diacritics, and I wanted to understand why these marks were added and applied to only some specific characters. I had a version that they were only added to the letters featured in Scandinavian languages: Swedish, Norwegian, Icelandic, and Danish. The Finnish language doesn\u2019t belong to Scandinavian group, but it is also called that due to its geographic association. I also considered English as the most widely spoken language, and Cyrillic-based languages as those we are native to. My theory did not hold up. It turned out that the set doesn\u2019t include all of the most frequently used letters of these languages. We simply crafted compressed diacritics for all uppercase letters. This design choice became the font\u2019s unique trait, so now almost any text that features diacritical marks can be stylized.\u00bb<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Marina Khodak, TypeType Lead Designer<\/em><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Apart from the ss13 set with tightly positioned diacritics, we added the ss14 set, where diacritical marks are integrated into the letters. 
<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n
\n

\u00abTT Firs Neue 2.000 has a carefully thought-out logic for its stylistic sets. However, many designers don\u2019t use them because they either don\u2019t know they exist or simply find this tool inconvenient. So, we always recommend exploring the specimen and going through the font\u2019s functionality before installing it. Within it lies a wealth of features that, when utilized, will reveal the typeface from a new perspective and add fresh dimensions to its appearance.\u00bb<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Ivan Gladkih, CTO, co-founder of TypeType<\/em><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

If you want to learn more about finding and using stylistic sets and other features, check out our article<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Refined ligatures<\/h4>\n\n\n\n

The old version had incomplete sets of ligatures. Marina\u2019s starting point was that our font belongs to Scandinavian sans serifs. That\u2019s why she chose this direction for the research. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n

\u00ab<\/em>I considered the most frequently used letter combinations from Scandinavian languages. We could just design ligatures out of them, but they didn\u2019t always look harmonious when combined. So, we chose two logical approaches: the first was frequency, and the second was aesthetically pleasing and interesting letter combinations. According to this analysis and logic, we created pairs that were included in the font.\u00bb<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Marina Khodak, TypeType Lead Designer<\/em><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

Here are some interesting examples of the ligatures we made:<\/p>\n\n\n\n