Type Foundry of the Month: HvD Fonts

This month we are taking a peek at a foundry called HvD Fonts. One of this foundry’s creations, a little old font called Brandon, has been dominating many designers’ layouts for the last few years. If you browse any popular design showcase site, you will most likely see Brandon used more than once as you scroll through site examples. Since seeing it quite a few times this month, I wanted to get to know this foundry a little more.

HVD Fonts was founded by Hannes von Dohren in 2008. It is a small type studio based out of Berlin that focuses on producing high quality fonts to be used for both display and text. Von Dohren got his start as a graphic designer doing agency work but quickly found that his passion was in type design. Eventually, he transitioned into a full-time type designer and he now dedicates all of his time to creating new typefaces. In 2010, he was putting out a new typeface almost every month, and he attributes this to his love for what he was doing. You can tell he was once a designer; all of the typefaces he creates are ridiculously detailed and come with just about all of the weights and styles you would ever want. When you use a typeface from HVD, you can rest easy knowing he has your glyphs covered.

Below are just a few of the typefaces HVD has to offer (again, thanks to MyFonts.com and HvD for all of the great images below!):

Brandon Grotesque

This is the big one—the most successful typeface from HVD. This font is a strong, geometric sans serif, and it was inspired by the typefaces that were popular in the 1920s and 30s. The subtle, rounded corners on the letters hint at this inspiration. This font is really, REALLY nice to look at—it is one of those trusty typefaces we try not to use in every project because it is just that good looking.

Livory

This font is influenced by the French Renaissance Antiquas from the 16th century. In other words, it is a sophisticated serif typeface that comes with a wide variety of styles and glyphs including small caps, fractions, old style, ligatures, and ornaments just to name a few. This is THE typeface that can take on a big, serious job. It will equip you to handle just about any typographic need you come across.

Brix Slab

Now, we all need a nice slab option in our type tool kit, and this is a fantastic slab to have. Brix Slab looks almost too good in headings and comes in the perfect variety of weights and styles to satisfy just about any type need. This one is hard to make look bad.

Pluto Sans

This font makes you happy just by looking at it. The simple, yet fun curls on the letters make this the perfect font to lighten any project. It’s fun and sweet, but not too sweet, so don’t worry about it ever getting old. This typeface is a wonderful addition to your arsenal for any project that calls for a little bit of whimsy, but not too much.