Shear

Shear

Design Concept

Shear is our take on brutalist headline typography, characterized by extreme proportions and a heavy weight. As a single-weight family of 20 styles, it thrives across lateral adjustments in proportion and two aggressive slant angles set at 20 and 40 degrees—which are both forward- and backward-slanted. Tight horizontal and vertical metrics truly make it an outstanding choice in a heavy display sans category. Shear is the embodiment of extreme speed and action in type design.

To provide some context, heavy headline type has been around ever since the industrial revolution, when type suddenly stepped out of book covers and needed to grab the beholder’s attention in a fast-growing market. A distant relative to this particular design can be traced back to Zeitungs-Grotesque, an 1874 design by the J. G. Francke Type Foundry, which swiftly became the most widely distributed heavy sans across both the German-speaking world as well as the eastern part of Europe. The style was often found under the Fette designation, with various stylistic versions stemming from different foundries of that era. Dan Reynolds penned a more detailed history, which can be found here. In narrower weights, Shear resembles a bit of Schmalfette Grotesk, and thus radiates a bit of the Impact feeling.

Zeitungs-Grotesque, Schmalfette Grotesk and Impact have all influenced appearance of Shear

Shear is indeed designed to be impactful due to its strong, boxy construction countered by round shapes that appear on the inside. It’s an authoritative design that feels unbeatable when set in a big format. Its strong appearance stems from tight horizontal and vertical metrics, thus creating dominant bands of text. Being a single weight family of 20 styles, it thrives across lateral movement in proportion. Four distinctive widths help Shear squeeze or stretch to fit all kinds of layouts—without losing its burly character. The flat sides and tops allow the width to expand and compress seamlessly, and it is precisely the context in which variable font technology shines.

Instead of building hierarchy and loudness through the increase in weight, Shear offers a different approach—an angulation that goes in both positive and negative directions, with two aggressive slant angles at 20 and 40 degrees each way. This particular feature is what Shear got its name from, and that is what truly makes it an outstanding choice in a heavy display sans category. These angular styles allow us to further explore speed and action in type design, resulting in a type family that thrives doing the visual heavy lifting from layout to branding.

The true quality of Shear lies in its distinct personalities: from static upright styles to an energetic 20-degree slant, all the way to aggressive 40-degree angles. We like to think of Shear as a versatile free rider—unbound by spatial constraints, built for any angle-heavy tasks thrown at it. Razor-sharp by nature and precise in its adaptability, it moves with innovative ideas and feeds on the raw energy that is customary to any truly creative task. A bold beast with a heuristic heart, it is bound to bring a certain dose of je ne sais quoi and steadfastness into any type of work—steady in its process, fast in its intent.

Language Support

Abaza, Abron, Abua, Acheron, Achinese, Acholi, Achuar-Shiwiar, Adamawa Fulfulde, Adangme, Adyghe, Afar, Afrikaans, Aghul, Aguaruna, Ahtna, Akoose, Alekano, Aleut, Amahuaca, Amarakaeri, Amis, Anaang, Andaandi, Dongolawi, Angas, Anufo, Anuta, Arabela, Aragonese, Arbëreshë Albanian, Archi, Asháninka, Ashéninka Perené, Asturian, Atayal, Avaric, Awa-Cuaiquer, Awing, Baatonum, Bafia, Bagirmi Fulfulde, Balante-Ganja, Balinese, Balkan Romani, Bambara, Banjar, Baoulé, Bari, Basque, Bassari, Batak Dairi, Batak Karo, Batak Mandailing, Batak Simalungun, Batak Toba, Belarusian, Bemba (Zambia), Bena (Tanzania), Bezhta, Biali, Bikol, Bini, Bislama, Boko (Benin), Bomu, Bora, Borana-Arsi-Guji Oromo, Borgu Fulfulde, Bosnian, Breton, Budukh, Buginese, Bulgarian, Bushi, Candoshi-Shapra, Caquinte, Caribbean Hindustani, Cashibo-Cacataibo, Cashinahua, Catalan, Cebuano, Central Aymara, Central Kurdish, Central Nahuatl, Central-Eastern Niger Fulfulde, Cerma, Chachi, Chamalal, Chamorro, Chavacano, Chayahuita, Chechen, Chiga, Chiltepec Chinantec, Chinese Buriat, Chokwe, Chuukese, Cimbrian, Cofán, Cook Islands Māori, Cornish, Corsican, Creek, Crimean Tatar, Croatian, Czech, Danish, Dargwa, Dehu, Dido, Dimli, Duala, Dungan, Dutch, Dyan, Dyula, Eastern Arrernte, Eastern Maninkakan, Eastern Oromo, Efik, English, Erzya, Fanti, Faroese, Fijian, Filipino, Finnish, French, Friulian, Ga, Gagauz, Galician, Ganda, Garifuna, German, Gheg Albanian, Gilbertese, Gonja, Gooniyandi, Gourmanchéma, Guadeloupean Creole French, Gusii, Haitian, Halh Mongolian, Hani, Hausa, Hiligaynon, Hopi, Huastec, Hungarian, Hän, Ibibio, Icelandic, Idoma, Igbo, Iloko, Inari Sami, Indonesian, Ingush, Irish, Istro Romanian, Italian, Ixcatlán Mazatec, Jamaican Creole English, Japanese, Javanese, Jenaama Bozo, Jola-Fonyi, Judeo-Tat, K’iche’, Kabardian, Kabuverdianu, Kaingang, Kako, Kala Lagaw Ya, Kalaallisut, Kalenjin, Kalmyk, Kamba (Kenya), Kaonde, Kaqchikel, Karachay-Balkar, Karata, Karelian, Kashubian, Kazakh, Kekchí, Kenzi, Mattokki, Khasi, Khinalugh, Kikuyu, Kimbundu, Kinyarwanda, Kirghiz, Kirmanjki, Kituba (DRC), Kom (Cameroon), Kongo, Konzo, Koyraboro Senni Songhai, Krio, Kumyk, Kven Finnish, Kölsch, Ladin, Ladino, Lak, Latgalian, Lezghian, Lingala, Lithuanian, Lombard, Low German, Lower Sorbian, Lozi, Luba-Lulua, Lule Sami, Luo, Luxembourgish, Maasina Fulfulde, Macedo-Romanian, Macedonian, Madurese, Makonde, Malagasy, Malaysian, Maltese, Mam, Mamara Senoufo, Mandinka, Mandjak, Mankanya, Manx, Maore Comorian, Maori, Mapudungun, Marshallese, Matsés, Mauritian Creole, Mende (Sierra Leone), Meriam Mir, Meru, Metlatónoc Mixtec, Mezquital Otomi, Mi’kmaq, Minangkabau, Mirandese, Mizo, Mohawk, Moksha, Mongolian Buriat, Montenegrin, Montenegrin, Munsee, Murrinh-Patha, Murui Huitoto, Muslim Tat, Muslim Tat, Mwani, Ménik, Mískito, Naga Pidgin, Ndonga, Neapolitan, Ngazidja Comorian, Nigerian Fulfulde, Niuean, Nobiin, Nogai, Nomatsiguenga, Noon, North Azerbaijani, North Ndebele, Northern Kissi, Northern Kurdish, Northern Qiandong Miao, Northern Sami, Northern Uzbek, Norwegian, Nyamwezi, Nyanja, Nyankole, Nyemba, Nzima, Occitan, Ojitlán Chinantec, Orma, Oroqen, Otuho, Palauan, Pampanga, Papantla Totonac, Papiamento, Paraguayan Guaraní, Pedi, Picard, Pichis Ashéninka, Piemontese, Pijin, Pintupi-Luritja, Pipil, Pite Sami, Pohnpeian, Polish, Portuguese, Potawatomi, Pulaar, Purepecha, Páez, Quechua, Romanian, Romansh, Rotokas, Rundi, Russian Buriat, Russian, Rusyn, Rutul, Saafi-Saafi, Samoan, Sango, Sangu (Tanzania), Saramaccan, Sardinian, Scots, Scottish Gaelic, Secoya, Sena, Serbian, Serbian (Cyrillic), Seri, Seselwa Creole French, Sharanahua, Shawnee, Shilluk, Shipibo-Conibo, Shona, Shuar, Shughni, Sicilian, Silesian, Siona, Slovak, Slovenian, Soga, Somali, Soninke, South Azerbaijani, South Ndebele, Southern Aymara, Southern Bobo Madaré, Southern Dagaare, Southern Qiandong Miao, Southern Sami, Southern Sotho, Spanish, Sranan Tongo, Standard Estonian, Standard Latvian, Standard Malay, Sundanese, Susu, Swahili, Swedish, Swiss German, Syenara Senoufo, Tabassaran, Tagalog, Tahitian, Tajik, Talysh, Tatar, Tedim Chin, Tetum, Tetun Dili, Timne, Tiéyaxo Bozo, Tlingit, Toba, Tok Pisin, Tokelau, Tonga (Tonga Islands), Tonga (Zambia), Tosk Albanian, Tsakhur, Tumbuka, Turkish, Turkmen, Tuvalu, Tuvinian, Twi, Tzeltal, Tzotzil, Uab Meto, Ukrainian, Umbundu, Ume Sami, Upper Guinea Crioulo, Upper Sorbian, Venetian, Veps, Vietnamese, Vlax Romani, Võro, Walloon, Walser, Wamey, Waray (Philippines), Warlpiri, Wasa, Wayuu, Welsh, West Central Oromo, West-Central Limba, Western Abnaki, Western Frisian, Western Niger Fulfulde, Wiradjuri, Wolof, Xhosa, Yagua, Yanesha’, Yao, Yoruba, Yucateco, Zapotec, Zarma, Zulu, Zuni, Záparo

Credits & details

Year published: 2026
Type design: Marko Hrastovec, Katja Malešević
Cyrillic design: Diana Dimitrijević
Font mastering: Mihael Šandro
Cover image & campaign: Sven Vranješ
Text: Krešimir Bobaš

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Concept

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Single styles

Shear

Design Concept

Language Support

Credits & details