SCHMALFETTE GROTESK TYPEFACE
Schmalfette Grotesk typeface original drawing was designed by Swiss designer Walter F. Haettenschweiler in 1954. This renowned typeface until today was heavily inspired by American wood-types of the end of the nineteenth century before being the well-known photocomposition’s icon which many readers and designers fell in love with. In this updated version, this new Schmalfette Grotesk refers to Willy Fleckhaus’ work for the magazine Twen published in western Germany from 1959 to 1971, which featured popular, cultural, glamorous, fashion and photographic content. We wanted to pay tribute to the editorial design of the magazine which highlights a bold use of the Schmalfette Grotesk in capital letters and a smart use of German diacritics and punctuation. In our new version, we took care to be as close as possible to the vibe of the original drawing —which was only in capital letters— by adding a complete set of glyphs in lowercase that we interpreted with different stylistic sets (diacritic titling, below caps diacritics, 3 sets of punctuation). We had the chance to work with Jean Alessandrini during our research of shapes, as he is an eternal lover of this font that he used a lot as a graphic designer and tried to redraw as well in 70s. Our alphabet was validated and expertized by the Museum für Gestaltung from Zürich and by the Haettenschweiler family as a respectful revival of the original Schmalfette Grotesk by Walter F. Haettenschweiler. Thanks to them. With its tight letter spacing typical of the last mid century, Schmalfette Grotesk is ideal for contemporary titling and logotypes of today and tomorrow.
Design
Walter F. Haettenschweiler (Uppercases and numbers original drawing), 1954 Guillaume Sbalchiero (Diorama Type Partners), 2017-2022
Font Development
Alan Madić and Rafael Ribas
Proofreading
Jean Alessandrini and Museum für Gestaltung Zürich
Publishing Year
2023
Version
1.1
File Formats
OTF, TTF, WOFF, WOFF2
Character Set
Latin Extended
Language Coverage
ViewAbenaki, Afaan Oromo, Afar, Afrikaans, Albanian, Alsatian, Amis, Anuta, Aragonese, Aranese, Aromanian, Arrernte, Arvanitic, Asturian, Atayal, Aymara, Azerbaijani, Bashkir, Basque, Belarusian, Bemba, Bikol, Bislama, Bosnian, Breton, Cape Verdean Creole, Catalan, Cebuano, Chamorro, Chavacano, Chichewa, Chickasaw, Cimbrian, Cofán, Corsican, Creek, Crimean Tatar, Croatian, Czech, Dawan, Delaware, Dholuo, Drehu, Dutch, English, Esperanto, Estonian, Faroese, Fijian, Filipino, Finnish, Folkspraak, French, Frisian, Friulian, Gagauz, Galician, Ganda, Genoese, German, Gikuyu, Gooniyandi, Greenlandic Kalaallisut, Guadeloupean Creole, Gwich’in, Haitian Creole, Hän, Hawaiian, Hiligaynon, Hopi, Hotcąk, Hungarian, Icelandic, Ido, Ilocano, Indonesian, Interglossa, Interlingua, Irish, Istro-Romanian, Italian, Jamaican, Javanese, Jèrriais, Kala Lagaw Ya, Kapampangan, Kaqchikel, Karakalpak, Karelian, Kashubian, Kikongo, Kinyarwanda, Kiribati, Kirundi, Klingon, Kurdish, Ladin, Latin, Latino sine Flexione, Latvian, Lithuanian, Lojban, Lombard, Low Saxon, Luxembourgish, Maasai, Makhuwa, Malay, Maltese, Manx, Māori, Marquesan, Megleno-Romanian, Meriam Mir, Mirandese, Mohawk, Moldovan, Montagnais, Montenegrin, Murrinh-Patha, Nagamese Creole, Ndebele, Neapolitan, Ngiyambaa, Niuean, Noongar, Norwegian, Novial, Occidental, Occitan, Oshiwambo, Ossetian, Palauan, Papiamento, Piedmontese, Polish, Portuguese, Potawatomi, Q’eqchi’, Quechua, Rarotongan, Romanian, Romansh, Rotokas, Sami, Samoan, Sango, Saramaccan, Sardinian, Scottish Gaelic, Serbian, Seri, Seychellois Creole, Shawnee, Shona, Sicilian, Silesian, Slovak, Slovenian, Slovio, Somali, Sorbian, Sotho, Spanish, Sranan, Sundanese, Swahili, Swazi, Swedish, Tagalog, Tahitian, Tetum, Tok Pisin, Tokelauan, Tongan, Tshiluba, Tsonga, Tswana, Tumbuka, Turkish, Turkmen, Tuvaluan, Tzotzil, Uzbek, Venetian, Vepsian, Volapük, Võro, Wallisian, Walloon, Waray-Waray, Warlpiri, Wayuu, Welsh, Wik-Mungkan, Wiradjuri, Wolof, Xavante, Xhosa, Yapese, Yindjibarndi, Zapotec, Zulu, Zuni
Base Price
Individual Style From €100,00 (1 style)
First Apparition
Revue Diorama No.1, Legibility
Archive
ViewThe typographic work archive of Walter F. Haettenschweiler is available at the Museum für Gestaltung Zürich, Grafiksammlung (Donated by the Haettenschweiler family). Museum für Gestaltung Zürich Toni-Areal, Pfingstweidstrasse 96 CH-8031 Zürich +41 43 446 66 77 www.museum-gestaltung.ch www.zhdk.ch
