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Universal Grotesk [Vladimir Balthasar]

This typeface became famous for its use on traffic signs in Czechoslovakia. It was designed in 1951 by an unknown type designer at the Czech type foundry Grafotechna.

Free download of two fonts made in 2010 and 2012 respectively, also by an unknown designer. One of these fonts claims in its metadata that the original is due to Vladimir Balthasar in 1934. In 2016, Peter Bilak reports that Indra Kupferschmid told him that Universal Grotesk is basically Kristall Grotesk (1937, Wagner & Schmidt in Leipzig). As Wagner & Schmidt morphed into the East-German type foundry TypoArt some time after 1945, Bilak conjectures that Grafotechna got its matrices from Wagner & Schmidt.

Digital descendants:

  • The free typefaces Universal Grotesk and Universal Grotesk Tucny (2010 and 2012). Unknown designer. These fonts have irregular stroke widths and awful spacing.
  • Globe Grotesk Display (2014, Jan Charvat).
  • Uni Grotesk (2016, Peter Bilak, Nikola Djurek and Hrvoje Zivcic) is another outgrowth.

EXTERNAL LINKS
Universal Grotesk
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INTERNAL LINKS
Map/Travel dingbats ⦿ Type design in Slovakia ⦿ Type design in Czechia ⦿ Type designers ⦿ Type designers ⦿ Typography ⦿






file name: Jan Charvat Globe Grotesk Display 2014


file name: Jan Charvat Globe Grotesk Display 2014a


file name: Jan Charvat Globe Grotesk Display 2014b


file name: Jan Charvat Globe Grotesk Display 2014c


file name: Jan Charvat Globe Grotesk Display 2014d


file name: Jan Charvat Globe Grotesk Display 2014e


file name: Jan Charvat Globe Grotesk Display 2014f


file name: Jan Charvat Globe Grotesk Display 2014g


file name: Jan Charvat Globe Grotesk Display 2014k


file name: Peter Bilak Nikola Djurek Hrvoje Zivcic Uni Grotesk 2016


file name: Peter Bilak Nikola Djurek Hrvoje Zivcic Uni Grotesk 2016b


file name: Peter Bilak Nikola Djurek Hrvoje Zivcic Uni Grotesk 2016c


file name: Peter Bilak Nikola Djurek Hrvoje Zivcic Uni Grotesk 2016d


file name: Peter Bilak Nikola Djurek Hrvoje Zivcic Uni Grotesk 2016e


file name: Peter Bilak Nikola Djurek Hrvoje Zivcic Uni Grotesk 2016f


file name: Peter Bilak Nikola Djurek Hrvoje Zivcic Uni Grotesk 2016g


file name: Peter Bilak Nikola Djurek Hrvoje Zivcic Uni Grotesk Cond Std Med 2016h


file name: Peter Bilak Nikola Djurek Hrvoje Zivcic Uni Grotesk Display 2016


file name: Peter Bilak Nikola Djurek Hrvoje Zivcic Uni Grotesk Display 2016c


file name: Peter Bilak Nikola Djurek Hrvoje Zivcic Uni Grotesk Display 2016d


file name: Unknown Designer Universal Grotesk Bold 2010 based on Vladimir Balthasar 1934


file name: Unknown Designer Universal Grotesk Bold 2010 based on Vladimir Balthasar 1934b


file name: Unknown Designer Universal Grotesk Tucny 2012 based on Vladimir Balthasar 1934


file name: Unknown Designer Universal Grotesk Tucny 2012 based on Vladimir Balthasar 1934b


file name: Wagner Schmidt Kristall Grotesk 1936


file name: Grafotechna Universal Grotesk 1951


file name: Grafotechna Universal Grotesk 1951 Road sign in Brezno, Slovakia. October 1999


file name: Grafotechna Universal Grotesk 1951 Road sign in Slovakia


file name: Grafotechna Universal Grotesk 1951


file name: Grafotechna Universal Grotesk 1951a


file name: Grafotechna Universal Grotesk 1951b


file name: Grafotechna Universal Grotesk 1951c


file name: Grafotechna Universal Grotesk 1951g


file name: Grafotechna Universal Grotesk 1951h





Luc Devroye ⦿ School of Computer Science ⦿ McGill University Montreal, Canada H3A 2K6 ⦿ lucdevroye@gmail.com ⦿ http://luc.devroye.org ⦿ http://luc.devroye.org/fonts.html