Anshul Gupta

I am fascinated by Devanagari calligraphy. Since it is part of my culture and I have done a lot of traditional Devanagari calligraphy, I couldn’t help but notice the many similarities between blackletter and Devanagari calligraphy, such as the mirrored pen angle, verticality, calligraphic strokes, sharp angles, and much more. This inspired me to create a typeface based on blackletter.

Upon studying blackletter from various references and using calligraphy on both small and large scales to properly understand the ductus, form, and proportions, I found that there are various styles of blackletter, and I would need to choose one as my base to work on. I chose Textura.

My goal was to revive and modernize Gothic/Textura typography. Known for its intricate shapes and uniform proportions, Gothic typography is highly decorative but often hard to read, which led to its decline over time. I aimed to make this typeface more legible and readable by incorporating humanistic proportions while retaining its unique historical character. For reference, I used 16th-century calligraphic texts from Typofonderie. After creating some letters and making major design decisions, I developed a well-defined system for the typeface to come alive.

Introducing ‘Renegade,’ a humanist Textura typeface for all your rebellions. The type family hosts five weights and six styles, based on four masters: Regular, Black, Reverse Narrow Black, and Narrow Thin. The family aims to present blackletter from a fresh perspective where it can be used both as a traditional humanist blackletter and as a modern contemporary typeface. This is a variable font with multiple character variants and stylistic sets. So, have fun with it!