About NaN Metrify

NaN Metrify is NaN’s behemoth, no-bullshit take on the Neo/Grotesk sans-serif genre. Known for our library of wild horses, we thought it was about time for a workhorse or two (or three, in fact), and we ended up with quite a globe-hopping rogue of an equine at that. 

Neo-grotesks, through their role in contemporary design history, and their place in visual culture, represent an ubiquitous genre. Systemised and global, NaN’s approach is, in part, an answer to contemporary branding challenges. With nine widths, six weights and corresponding matching italics for each – bringing the number of styles to 108 per ABC version – plus standard versions available in Arabic, Cyrillic, Hebrew, Pan-African and Thai, Metrify is our first world-type family.

World-Ready (and waiting)
Neo-Grotesk typefaces played a significant role in the so-called Swiss international style. But this internationality arose from the inside out, with little regard to writing systems other than Latin. In an increasingly transborder world, we questioned what a sans should be in 2023, and our answer to that is simple – a world-ready typeface. A font family that is truly international. To do so, we collaborated with consultants in each international script to offer NaN Metrify in Arabic, Cyrillic, Greek, Hebrew, Thai, Pan-African and Pan-European writing systems – each meticulously designed to respect Metrify’s internal logic and sensitive to the taste and culture of local readers.

ABC
By considering Neo-Grotesks as a uniform sub-genre, there is a chance of missing the opportunity for styles to have their own very distinct voices. Questioning the creative latitude offered in this relatively small design space, we came up with the idea of Metrify A, B and C. Built around a standard skeleton and shared glyph-set, these three versions, or flavours, offer a different entry point and vision of what a Neo-Grotesk can be.

Metrify A is the most muscular of the three. Its rich treatment of details and added complexity nod to industrial grotesks, introducing a warmth and well-aged familiarity, whilst Metrify B takes a more minimal approach – removing ‘unessential’ features for a rational and distinctly contemporary feel. Metrify C, meanwhile, pushes this logic forward, adopting a simplified approach to glyph structures. In many ways, it accidentally adopts a geometric vocabulary, with rounded tittles and punctuation, making it the friendliest of the trio.

Style Range

Fresh out the packet, NaN Metrify Latin populates a set of nine widths of six weights, each with matching italics, bringing the number of styles to 108 per ABC version. Its extreme range of widths – spanning Compressed and Gigawide – allows for super strong headlines, while the middle range (Narrow, Standard and Wide) are comfortable setting any running text.

This typographic heavyweight comes conveniently packaged in a lightweight variable font file, allowing for the most efficient delivery of all necessary styles without sacrificing load speed. The subtle gradation of widths enables users to pick the perfect ratio between compactness and comfort of reading for any context. Basically, it’s got you covered. Don’t believe us? Give it a go.

▽ Download PDF specimen for detailed samples, glyphs overviews, language support and character sets.

www.metrify.world

Typeface: NaN Metrify
Design: NaN
Lead Design: Luke Prowse & J.B Morizot
Engineering: J.B Morizot

Additional Design & QA: Florian Runge, Léon Hugues, Fátima Lázaro, Benjamin Blaess
Arabic: Naïma Ben Ayed
Cyrillic: Florian Runge & Daria Cohen
Hebrew: Florian Runge
Greek: Daria Cohen
Thai: Ben Mitchell & Léon Hugues
Spacing: Igino Marini

Script Consultants:
Hebrew: Liron Lavi
Greek: Kostas Bartsokas
Cyrillic: Daria Cohen
Thai: Ben Mitchell

Year: 2022-2023
Formats: TTF, WOFF2 (Autohinted)

▽ Download PDF Specimen

Microsite: www.metrify.world

Business
Vitra – founded by Willi and Erika Fehlbaum, the owner of a shopfitting business – entered the furniture market in 1957 with the licensed production of furniture from the Herman Miller Collection for the European market – primarily designs by Charles and Ray Eames and George Nelson. In 1967 the company introduced the Panton Chair by Verner Panton – the first cantilever chair out of plastic. In 1977 Rolf Fehlbaum took over the management of Vitra. In 1984 the partnership that had been formed with Herman Miller was terminated by mutual consent. Subsequently, Vitra obtained the rights to designs by Charles and Ray Eames and George Nelson for Europe and the Middle East. Today, Vitra’s product line consists of designer furniture for use in offices, homes and public areas. In 2002, the company took in the realm of domestic living. Launched in 2004, the Home Collection includes classic furniture design pieces by Charles and Ray Eames, George Nelson, Verner Panton, Alexander Girard and Jean Prouvé, as well as the works of designers such as Antonio Citterio, Jasper Morrison, Alberto Meda, Maarten van Severen, Ronan and Erwan Bouroullec, Hella Jongerius and BarberOsgerby. After a major fire destroyed a large part of the Vitra production facilities in Weil am Rhein in 1981, British architect Nicholas Grimshaw was commissioned to design new factory buildings and develop a master plan for the company premises. Inspired by his acquaintance with Frank Gehry in the mid-1980s, Vitra departed from Grimshaw’s plan for a unified corporate project. Since that time, buildings have been erected on the Vitra grounds in Weil am Rhein by a wide-ranging group of architects, including Frank Gehry (Vitra Design Museum and Factory Building, 1989), Zaha Hadid (Fire Station, 1993), Tadao Ando (Conference Pavilion, 1993), Alvaro Siza (Factory Building, Passage Cover, Car Parking, 1994), Herzog & de Meuron (VitraHaus, 2010), and SANAA (Factory Building, 2011). Over the years, Vitra accumulated a growing collection of chairs and other furniture. With the aim of making the collection accessible to the public, a museum was established as an independent foundation dedicated to the research and popularization of design and architecture. The Vitra Design Museum from 1989 by Frank Gehry was the first public building on the campus as well as the architect’s first building in Europe. Today the museum is partly based on the own broad collection of 20th century furniture as well as host of visiting exhibitions.
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إذا كان الصوت الخاص بك لا يعمل مع (معظم) المتصفحات الحديثة ، فالرجاء استخدام لوحة تحكم الموقع لتغيير إعدادات الصوت الخاصة بك إلى. تأكد من النقر فوق “حفظ التغييرات” في الزاوية اليسرى السفلية لتطبيق الإعداد. هذه الخطوة ضرورية لأننا للأسف غير قادرينعلى تعديل القيمة (القيم) “الافتراضيةعدادات موقع في الوأضًا ، يرجى ملاحظة أن هذا الموقع يحت ميزتي “بحث / بحث” مختلفتين منفصلتين تمامًا. في حين أن كلا الوضعين يقبلان مصطلحات البحث باللغة الإنجليزية أو التايلاندية للبحث الكامل في قاموسنا التايلاندي على الإنترنت ، فإن مربع “البحث” في الزاوية اليسرى العلوية يكون عمومًا أقل فائدة لأنه قد يوفر نتائج كثيرة جدًا وبترتيب عشوائي. بدلاً من ذلك ، ضع في اعتبارك استخدام اللوحة في علامة تبويب القاموس (في أعلى الصفحة) عند البحث عن الكلمات والعبارات التايلاندية. يحتوي هذا البحث على بعض التحسينات التي قد تجدها مفيدة.
“I’m not saying I’d make a better CEO. That’s unsaid.”