Columbia Sans
Styles
Fast driving by Jack, with the zippy Mazda, quickly excels on the rugged course.
Buy from €60Columbia Sans ExtraLight
Fast driving by Jack, with the zippy Mazda, quickly excels on the rugged course.
Buy from €60Columbia Sans ExtraLight Italic
Fast driving by Jack, with the zippy Mazda, quickly excels on the rugged course.
Buy from €60Columbia Sans Light
Fast driving by Jack, with the zippy Mazda, quickly excels on the rugged course.
Buy from €60Columbia Sans Light Italic
Fast driving by Jack, with the zippy Mazda, quickly excels on the rugged course.
Buy from €60Columbia Sans Regular
Fast driving by Jack, with the zippy Mazda, quickly excels on the rugged course.
Buy from €60Columbia Sans Italic
Fast driving by Jack, with the zippy Mazda, quickly excels on the rugged course.
Buy from €60Columbia Sans Medium
Fast driving by Jack, with the zippy Mazda, quickly excels on the rugged course.
Buy from €60Columbia Sans Medium Italic
Fast driving by Jack, with the zippy Mazda, quickly excels on the rugged course.
Buy from €60Columbia Sans SemiBold
Fast driving by Jack, with the zippy Mazda, quickly excels on the rugged course.
Buy from €60Columbia Sans SemiBold Italic
Fast driving by Jack, with the zippy Mazda, quickly excels on the rugged course.
Buy from €60Columbia Sans Bold
Fast driving by Jack, with the zippy Mazda, quickly excels on the rugged course.
Buy from €60Columbia Sans Bold Italic
Information
About this font
Columbia is an unorthodox blend of multiple historical models. Initially commissioned by science magazine Sciences & Avenir, Columbia strikes a balance between rigorous topics and an approachable, informal tone. In its early drafts, the drawings could be considered a “sans-serif version of Times New Roman”, but Jean-Baptiste Levée soon extended the exploration to include the 16th- and 17th-century typography exemplified by Guillaume Le Bé and Christophe Plantin. Columbia also excavates the so-called Elzevir style, an example of permeability between French and Dutch flavours. It is a combination that establishes a confident and trustworthy voice. The type’s restrained nature eschews caricature, giving paragraphs a clean texture while retaining the classical touch expected from late Renaissance typefaces. The family’s lively italics brighten the mood.
Columbia offers two optical sizes which do not follow the expected stylistic features of the genre. For the purpose of space-filling large headlines, Columbia Display has a rather generous x-height and dense coverage, while Columbia, with its smaller x-height, sculpts a more distinguishable word silhouette. Despite its initial relationship to Times New Roman, Columbia rejects the idea of a rotating contrast axis between weights. As a result, Columbia’s oblique distribution of weight is maintained throughout the family.
Columbia offers two optical sizes which do not follow the expected stylistic features of the genre. For the purpose of space-filling large headlines, Columbia Display has a rather generous x-height and dense coverage, while Columbia, with its smaller x-height, sculpts a more distinguishable word silhouette. Despite its initial relationship to Times New Roman, Columbia rejects the idea of a rotating contrast axis between weights. As a result, Columbia’s oblique distribution of weight is maintained throughout the family.
Formats
Static (OTF, TTF, WOFF, WOFF2)About the designers
Jean-Baptiste Levée is a type designer with a strong focus on corporate and bespoke typefaces.
Jean-Baptiste Levée
CEO, founder
Jean-Baptiste Levée (1981) has designed over a hundred typefaces for industry, moving pictures, fashion and media. He is the founder of the independent foundry Production Type.