Scto Grotesk
Schick Toikka · Florian Schick, Lauri Toikka
A two-flavour neo-grotesque (A and B) in six weights with italics; B is narrower than A but not a condensed, for economical set widths.
About
Scto Grotesk is Schick Toikka's neo-grotesque, drawn with the explicit goal of being the most rational, least quirky version of the genre. Strokes are invariably cut horizontally or vertically across all weights; R has a straight leg, dots are square, ascenders and caps share the same height. Reader-friendly details such as the lowered dots on i and the asymmetric bars in f and t keep it animated rather than sterile. The family comes in two flavours: Scto Grotesk A is beaming with confidence; Scto Grotesk B is narrower but not a condensed, intended for economical set widths. Italics slope only as much as needed for inline emphasis, making them usable for longer texts. The naming pays tribute to typefaces that didn't yet have names of their own and were identified by foundry or designer plus a style descriptor, and the family ships with an extended Latin character set and circled-number extras.
Classification
Schick Toikka frame Scto Grotesk as their take on the neo-grotesque genre that became an essential ingredient of the International Typographic Style. They opt for the least quirky, most rational option throughout: strokes are invariably cut horizontally or vertically across all weights, R has a straight leg, dots are square, ascenders and caps share the same height.