Custom typefaces for independent publishing house Skald Forlag located in Leikanger, Western Norway. Initially designed as a set of three styles — Serif, Italic and Sans — for an ongoing series of classics newly translated into the Nynorsk language, it got expanded into two distinct subfamilies for Skald’s general identity and website in 2021.

The aim was to convey a modest, literary quality combined with a reserved expressivity and a high degree of functionality, legibility and readability. The unconventional family structure asks for combinatory creativity and invites for mutual emphasis across styles. The compatibility of Sans, Serif, Italic and Small Caps variants result in interesting pairings and stark hierarchical contrasts.

The seriffed Roman and Italic are referring to the types advocated by the Private Press movement of the late 19th and early 20th century. Capturing the essential oddities of types such as MT Italian Old Style and Veronese, they are adding one more link to the chain of historical re-imaginations going all the way back to the ur-Romans cut by Nicolas Jenson in 1470.

The sans subfamily is a nod to Metro, William A. Dwiggins’ proto-humanist of 1929 designed for the Mergenthaler Linotype Company. With its broad pen infused detailing, open apertures and explicit stroke modulation they emanate a warm sophistication lacking in other instances of the sans-serif genre.