Spiegel Sans

Graph in Der Spiegel magazine using the Spiegel typeface.

When approached to give informal advice on the redesign of the leading German weekly Der Spiegel (“The Mirror”), Luc(as) offered to design a completely new headline font. A newly developed typeface, he argued, would lend an unmistakable personality to the magazine. He worked late nights for a week and sent in sketches; the designers immediately ordered six weights. Says Luc(as): “I get a weekly free copy of the magazine as long as the typefaces are being used – it’s been twenty years now.”

The Spiegel Sans typeface embodies an interesting paradox: the shapes and proportions of an American-style gothic – the ultimate industrial typeface – are combined with the subtle diagonal stress and almost imperceptible traces of handwriting that are typical of most of Luc(as)’s text faces. Although conceived as a headline face, Spiegel Sans is perfectly suited for medium-sized body text: a lucid, unobtrusive face to lend a unique character to brochures and illustrated books. The Condensed version is an elegant, spacing-saving headline font.

The current OpenType version includes character sets for dozens of languages including special sets for Central European, Baltic, Icelandic and Turkish.

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