Occult (Typeface)
Between 2019 and 2022, I designed and refined my new typeface to accompany my illustrations. Occult is a modern blackletter based on old Germanic typefaces from the 12th to 17th century and was designed in Adobe Illustrator and Glyphs. Collectively, my typefaces have been downloaded and used over 200.000 times.
Occult is a blackletter font in the likes of Old English and Fraktur. Blackletter typography, often referred to as Gothic script, has been used in Western Europe between the 12th and 17th century predominantly for printing press typefaces.
Lowercase set of Occult
Occult has been designed for digital prints, specifically to be integral part of illustrations. I designed Occult because existing typefaces were too embellished, too antiquated, or too illegible. I wanted to use a typeface in my work that was contemporary, but still addressed that old Gothic feel.
Blackletter scripts are historically created by brush strokes, that's why the ascenders, descenders, and terminals have the iconic square shapes. Initial sketches of Occult were made using different types of contemporary calligraphy pens.
One of the initial calligraphy ink sketches on paper
After paper sketches and calligraphy ink experiments, I decided to formalize the typeface in Adobe Illustrator and Glyphs. The initial set was completely created in Adobe Illustrator before converting and fine-tuning it to a usable typeface.
A more formalized sketch in Adobe Illustrator
Each individual letter was kerned in Glyphs and fine-tuned according to a large test set of words and phrases. Lowercase and uppercase letters have been designed to retain its blackletter feel while still being readable at smaller type scales.
Occult typeset v0.8 in Glyphs
I redesigned both uppercase and numerals in 2022. The old (0.8) uppercase was too bulky and gave the capitals a very indistinguishable feel. Below you can find the old design (left) next to the redesign (right).
Occult uppercase and numerals redesign side-by-side
Below you can find some practical examples of the Occult typeface in text and illustration. The typeset has over 80 different unique glyphs. You can also find more use of Occult in my illustrations.
Occult used as a typeface, nothing is specifically kerned for this text (Macbeth, Shakespeare)
Currently, Occult is not publicly available. My other fonts are available for download here, they are free for personal use! If you are a foundry or want to use one my fonts, please get in touch with me!
Occult typeset 1.0 with new numerals and uppercase in Glyphs
The new uppercase and numerals in plot.
