TYPE DESIGN INFORMATION PAGE last updated on Tue May 14 17:24:35 EDT 2024

FONT RECOGNITION VIA FONT MOOSE

LUC DEVROYE

ABOUT

The Northern Block (TNB) [Jonathan Hill]

The Northern Block (TNB) is Jonathan Hill's foundry based in Leeds and/or Sheffield and/or Newcastle, UK, est. 2006. The designer and funder is Jonathan Hill (b. Sheffield, 1971) who lives in Newcastle-upon-Tyne, UK. Maria Pigoulevskaya joined The Northern Block as type designer in 2012. Home page. Free fonts by Jonathan Hill can be found at Dafont and Fontspace.

Another Dafont link. MyFonts link. Hellofont link. Behance link. Klingspor link. Abstract Fonts link. Alternate URL.

In 2010, he started FontStructing typefaces. His first was the grungy wooden plank typeface Timber Remnants. Also in this category is Laser Disco (2008, futuristic).

Typefaces from 2006 until 2008: Sylar (2008, a techno family in 16 styles), Geta Robo (2008, a mechanical typeface influenced by Japanese animation), Arctic Patrol (angular family), Dokter Bryce (2008, octagonal and severe), Orange Royale (2008, 8 styles of fat techno and stencil fonts), CorTen (2008, octagonal ultra-fat stencil), QueueBrick (2008, LED simulation), Center Forward (2008, futuristic), Platform One (2008, a futuristic family), Line Wire (2008, octagonal, influenced by the work of Dutch designer #Wim Crouwel), StealWerks (2006, LED-inspired stencil face; published at T-26) and Blockout (2007, 5 weights of a futuristic blocky type family). In 2008, these were followed by more computer-related typefaces such as VideoTech (futuristic), JoyRider and AstroNaut (octagonal+futuristic, now at T-26). WerkHaus (2008) is a 5-style family inspired by the minimal sans typefaces of Herbert Bayer and the Bauhaus movement.

Typefaces from 2009: Scriber (2009, octagonal techno family), Get A Robo (2009, a 10-weight mechanical family influenced by Japanese animation (Anime)), Ten Gu (2009, paperclip font remastered from the 1970's Letragraphica font Tangui), Orange Royal (2009, rounded stencil), VideoTech (2009, inspired by computer games for the Commodore 64), SkyWing (2009, rounded typeface inspired by Japanese computer console games, such as Captain Tsubasa created by Yoichi Takahashi), VanBerger (2009, an octagonal family influenced by the De Stijl movement), Logan Five (2009, techno family inspired by the 1976 sci-fi film Logan's Run), Zaius (2009, a bold sans family that includes a stencil style, all based on Ed Benguiat's work for the 1968 movie poster for Planet of the Apes), Oric Neo (2009, a free octagonal techno family; +Stencil), VanBerger Stencil (2009, a free geometric sans influenced by Theo Van Doesburg and the De Stijl movement), Aldo (2009, +Open: a bold stylized type typeface re-worked from the original 1970s movie poster The Battle For The Planet Of The Apes), Sylar Stencil.

Typefaces from 2010: Intropol (2010; image), Arcle (a monoline organic sans), Hoxton (humanist sans family), Lintel (monoline sans family with a large x-height), Knul (monoline sans), Dohrma (a machismo geometric face; +Inline), Planer (a technical writing family), Otomo (a Japanese techno family that includes a stencil), Yodo (a geometric experimental family in 3 weights), Nu Order (a sans family that includes a very thin weight), PyeMan (2009, a piano key font named after the PacMan game), ProtoFet, DraftWerk (a minimal rounded typeface inspired by architecture and furniture detail drawings), DyeLine (a geometric face with a great hairline weight), Cobol (2010, great octagonal monowidth face), Draftwerk (architectural lettering), Olympik (a gorgeous multiline family based on Letraset's Optex, 1970), Kaine (a slab family inspired by 1960s spaghetti westerns: +Stencil, +Outline, +Italic +Block; Hill says that The grid template is based on Welt Extra Bold from Letraset with detailed changes, additional characters and new style variations.), Brion (a modernization and extension of A. Mailay's rounded sans font Arpad (1971, VGC); Kaine Block, the counterless version, is free at Dafont). Mekon (2010) is a fat sans display typeface with a free horizontally striped style. It revives and extends Peter Steiner's phototype Black Body (1973). MarkusLow (2010) is a revival and extension of Basilea (1965, Markus Low, VGC). Teletex (2010; +Ultra Light, +Light, +Medium) is a typewriter style slab serif whose design was influenced by Rockwell.

Typefaces from 2011: Dekal (nice fat multiline family, +Inline), Norpeth (2011, a humanist neutral sans family), Bosko (+Stencil, +Block), Bosko Block (2011, free), Woolworth (sans family), NeoGram (sans family), Juhl (an organic/ geometric sans family with the bowls of b, c, d. p and q modeled after chairs). Millar (2011) is a simple monoline sans family. Tondu (2011) is a strong sans poster face---its early version, Tondu Beta (2011), is free. Gelder Sans (2011) is a clean modern sans serif typeface. Brokman (2011) is a contemporary 10-style sans family. Vitro (2011) is a monoline geometric sans family. Beval (2011) is a humanist sans family. Nurom (2011), Monsal (2011), Tadao (2011) and Kuro (2011) are additional sans families. Heltar (2011) is a revamping, TNB style, of Helvetica. Regan Slab is a readable slab family. It was followed in 2012 by Regan (the sans version) and Regan Alt.

Jonathan Hill's most popular typefaces.

Type designs done in 2012: Hackman (elliptical sans), Borda (octagonal), Savile (humanist sans), Metrik (a nice geometric---borderline organic---sans family), Metral (rounded octagonal typeface), Uniman, Kobern (a strong sans), Reznik (techno sans).

Type designs from 2013 by Jonathan Hill: Nauman (a humanist sans family with attention paid to the triple (1, i, j)), Gunar, Nuber (followed in 2018 by Nuber Next), Eund (a modulated sans), Corbert (Bauhaus-inspired sans), Corbert Condensed.

Typefaces from 2014: Byker (geometric sans), Schar (humanist sans), Loew (geometric information design sans; extended in 2018 by him and Donna Wearmouth to Loew Next (for Latin and Cyrillic) and Loew Next Arabic), Bitner (spurless organic sans named after bitcoins), Modum, Modum.

Typefaces from 2015: Facto (a simple sans family with large x-height), Halcom (influenced by Futura), Scharf, Itoya.

Typefaces from 2016: Syke Mono (a stylish monospaced typeface family), Oyko (an octagonal industrial typeface family), Kylo Sans, Syke (a sans typeface family), Hoxton North (a condensed humanist, very British, sans), Celdum (geometric sans).

Typefaces from 2017: Tomarik, Typold.

Typefaces from 2018: Paradroid, Sprout (a low-contrast 6-weight sans).

Typefaces from 2019: Roag (an industrial geometric sans paying homage to mechanical designs of the 1930s), Syke (14-style sans), Scharf (a sturdy sans family), Mynor (a modern squarish sans inspired by machine-readable typefaces of the 1950s including OCR-A and B).

Typefaces from 2020: Corbert Wide, Blom (a humanist sans family).

Typefaces from 2021: Waldo (a 4-style bold, stencil-focused display typeface loosely based on a 1973 science fiction movie poster for The Battle For The Planet of The Apes), Nauman Neue (a 60-style humanist sans), Kopik (a comic book typeface with rounded forms; it was inspired by the 1960's architectural handwriting style practised by draftsmen), Duran (a 14-style geometric sans with built-in strength).

Creative Fabrica link. View Jonathan Hill's typefaces. Another list of Jonathan Hill's fonts. Interview in 2014.

EXTERNAL LINKS
The Northern Block (TNB)
 [Buy fonts]
 [Designer info]
Fontspring link [Buy fonts]
Monotype link
Monotype foundry link
Dafont page
Fontspace page
Behance page
Klingspor Museum page
MyFonts search
Monotype search
Fontspring search
Google search

INTERNAL LINKS
Commercial fonts (small outfits) ⦿ Pixel/bitmap fonts ⦿ Type designers ⦿ Type designers ⦿ Stencil fonts ⦿ Sci-Fi fonts ⦿ Pixel/bitmap fonts ⦿ Octagonal typefaces ⦿ Sites with only a few free fonts ⦿ Movie fonts ⦿ Type design in the United Kingdom ⦿ Bicycle-themed typefaces ⦿ Very thin (hairline sans) typefaces ⦿ Architectural lettering/typefaces ⦿ Typewriter fonts ⦿ Bauhaus and type design ⦿ FontStruct fonts ⦿ Paperclip faces ⦿ De Stijl and type design ⦿ LED / LCD fonts ⦿ Piano key typefaces ⦿ Wood plank typefaces ⦿ Monospaced fonts ⦿ Comic/cartoon fonts ⦿