Journal Sans New

Journal Sans emerged from the geometric-sans tradition associated with Jakob Erbar’s Erbar-Grotesk and W. A. Dwiggins’s Metro. These references situate the typeface within a broader twentieth-century tradition of functional design, but Journal Sans developed its own proportions, irregularities and industrial tone through its Soviet production history. Its first digital version, produced in the early 1990s, preserved this recognisable character while retaining limitations in its curves, outlines, spacing and kerning. The redesign therefore required determining which irregularities defined the typeface’s identity and which were artefacts of earlier production.

Journal Sans New rebuilds the typeface as a coherent and versatile digital system without reproducing either historical reference. The glyphs were substantially redrawn, the character set expanded, alternative forms introduced, and sidebearings and kerning completely revised. The result preserves the distinctive voice of the original while making the family reliable for contemporary editorial, display and screen typography.

Journal Sans New comprises six static styles developed for distinct typographic roles rather than as a conventional progression of weights. Regular and Bold form the functional core of the family, while Oblique preserves the slanted construction of the earlier version. The newly drawn true Italic introduces an independent rhythm and structure, extending the family’s editorial and expressive range beyond simple inclination.

Display reconnects the typeface with the historical proportions associated with Erbar-Grotesk, providing a more distinctive voice for headlines and large settings. Inline, derived from Bold, transforms its robust construction into a graphic style for identities, campaigns and display typography. Together, these styles show that the redesign was not limited to repair. It expanded Journal Sans into a broader contemporary system.