Stem Text
Five italic styles, ExtraLight to Bold, for a text-oriented geometric sans in Latin and Cyrillic.
Italics for a text-oriented geometric sans
Stem is a semi-closed geometric sans serif designed to work across a wide range of sizes. Stem Text adapts the family for continuous reading at smaller sizes, with thinner stroke junctions and more open spacing that create a clearer texture in long texts. While optimized for applications such as longreads, landing pages and magazines, its underlying design also allows it to work effectively at larger sizes.
I designed the five italic styles of Stem Text, ranging from ExtraLight Italic to Bold Italic, as part of the typeface’s development at ParaType. The family was designed by Alexandra Korolkova, with my contribution focused on the Stem Text italics. I was credited in the original release under my former name, Maria Selezeneva.
A true italic voice
I designed five italic styles, from ExtraLight Italic to Bold Italic, as companions to the upright Stem Text styles. Rather than relying on a mechanical slant, the italics introduce a more fluid rhythm and adapted character construction while retaining the proportions and geometric character of the family. The italics were developed across both Latin and Cyrillic, with the two scripts coordinated in angle, typographic colour and degree of movement.
From ExtraLight to Bold
The five italic styles span the range from ExtraLight to Bold, providing a coordinated set of italics for Stem Text across multiple weights. Designed for continuous text at smaller sizes, they retain the family’s geometric character while introducing the rhythm and differentiation needed for emphasis and hierarchy.
