Helfa
Delve Fonts · Delve Withrington
A text serif by Delve Withrington with bracketed serifs, concave stems and true drawn italics, aimed at scholarly and long-form reading contexts.
About
Helfa is a five-weight text serif with matching italics, each italic form individually drawn rather than slanted from the roman. Concave stems, subtly cupped serifs and wedge-shaped terminals give the typeface a hand-made warmth, while a generous x-height and moderate stroke contrast keep it readable at small sizes. Glyphs such as b, d, p and q are drawn independently to avoid the mechanical repetition of mirrored or rotated forms.
Classification
Bracketed serifs, concave stems, wedge-shaped terminals and true drawn italics place Helfa firmly in the humanist serif tradition, with design decisions that prioritise text readability and a hand-crafted quality over geometric regularity.