FF Bauer Grotesk

FF Bauer Grotesk breathes new digital life into the metal type “Friedrich Bauer Grotesk”, a 1933 release by the Trennert & Sohn type foundry in Hamburg Altona, Germany. Its geometric construction infused with an art déco zeitgeist tied to the era, is closely related to such famous German designs as Futura, Erbar, Kabel and Super Grotesk which a few years earlier. Bauer Grotesk stands out by being less dogmatic about the geometry, giving the design a warmer, more homogenous feel. The elliptical “O” is a good example of this, as well as characteristic shapes like the capital M or the unconventionally differing terminal angles of “c” and “s” which make for a less constructed look. All of these facets puzzled Thomas Ackermann when he first discovered the typeface in an old specimen book. At that point in the middle of his education, he hadn’t had much time, but could only manage to lay down the foundation of what should later become FF Bauer Grotesk: the first digitizations of the light and bold weight from letterpress printed sample pages. Afterward, the project rested a few years, but the idea didn’t. In 2012, Thomas met up with Felix Bonge in order to build the final typeface family. The aim was to stay close to the original, but to remove a bit of dust, in order to give it added versatility. Some aspects of the typeface were slightly deemphasized, like the high art-déco-waist seen in letters such as the E, F, R, P, etc., other details were exaggerated, like the pointed apexes of A, M, N for example, working to fit the typeface in a contemporary environment. Along the way, lots of small changes were necessary and the glyph count soon multiplied when new glyphs, alternates, multiple figure sets, case sensitive forms and small caps completed the design. FF Bauer Grotesk now consists of 6 weights with accompanying italics, with condensed weights and a decorative inline version currently underway.