Elza Narrow
Blackletra · Daniel Sabino · 2021
The narrow width of Daniel Sabino's Elza family, a deliberately characterless neo-grotesque with mechanised square curves drawn from the Helvetica and Univers lineage.
About
Elza Narrow comprises 16 styles across eight weights from Thin to Black, each with an oblique companion, part of the larger Elza family that spans three widths and two optical sizes. Small straight segments on the sides of round letters push the design towards a squarish, mechanised consistency beyond even Helvetica, while OpenType features include small caps, tabular and oldstyle figures, and a single-storey 'a' alternate. A variable font with weight, width and slant axes is also available, and language support extends across several hundred Latin-script languages.
Classification
Explicitly modelled on the neo-grotesque tradition of Helvetica and Univers, with mechanised square curves and straight-sided rounds that push the genre's systematisation further still. Obliques rather than true italics reinforce its rational, unsentimental character.