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Columbia Sans

Styles

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Specimen

Refractive Index
Technically, an important predecessor is surrealism, with its emphasis on spontaneous, automatic, or subconscious creation. Jackson Pollock’s dripping paint onto a canvas laid on the floor is a technique that has its roots in the work of André Masson, Max Ernst, and david Alfaro Siqueiros. The newer research tends to put the exile-surrealist Wolfgang Paalen in the position of the artist and theoretician who fostered the theory of the viewer-dependent possibility space through his paintings and his magazine DYN.
Another important early manifestation of what came to be abstract expressionism is the work of American Northwest artist Mark Tobey, especially his “white writing” canvases, which, though generally not large in scale, anticipate the “all-over” look of pollock’s drip paintings. The movement’s name is derived from the combination of the emotional intensity and self-denial of the German Expressionists with the anti-fgurative aesthetic of the European abstract schools such as Futurism, the Bauhaus, and Synthetic Cubism.
Paalen considered ideas of quantum mechanics, as well as idiosyncratic interpretations of the totemic vision and the spatial structure of native-Indian painting from British Columbia and prepared the ground for the new spatial vision of the young American abstracts. His long essay Totem Art (1943) had considerable infuence on such artists as Martha Graham, Isamu Noguchi, Jackson Pollock, Mark Rothko and Barnett Newman. Around 1944 Barnett newman tried to explain America’s newest art movement.
George brecht JOAN MIRÓ Wassily kandinsky PAUL KLEE barnett newman
71 Shuffle Max & Jackson „NEUESTE“ Saudicomsat ➃ ecoSystem*
Technically, an important predecessor is surrealism, with its emphasis on spontaneous, automatic, or subconscious creation. Jackson Pollock’s dripping paint onto a canvas laid on the floor is a technique that has its roots in the work of André Masson, Max Ernst, and david Alfaro Siqueiros. The newer research tends to put the exile-surrealist Wolfgang Paalen in the position of the artist and theoretician who fostered the theory of the viewer-dependent possibility space through his paintings and his magazine DYN.
Another important early manifestation of what came to be abstract expressionism is the work of American Northwest artist Mark Tobey, especially his “white writing” canvases, which, though generally not large in scale, anticipate the “all-over” look of pollock’s drip paintings. The movement’s name is derived from the combination of the emotional intensity and self-denial of the German Expressionists with the anti-fgurative aesthetic of the European abstract schools such as Futurism, the Bauhaus, and Cubism.
Paalen considered ideas of quantum mechanics, as well as idiosyncratic interpretations of the totemic vision and the spatial structure of native-Indian painting from British Columbia and prepared the ground for the new spatial vision of the young American abstracts. His long essay Totem Art (1943) had considerable infuence on such artists as Martha Graham, Isamu Noguchi, Jackson Pollock, Mark Rothko and Barnett Newman. Around 1944 Barnett newman tried to explain America’s newest art movement.

Information

Design

Jean-Baptiste Levée

Team

Mathieu Réguer
Quentin Schmerber

Version

1.003
Download PDF Specimen

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.

Formats

Static (OTF, TTF, WOFF, WOFF2)

Language support

Acheron, Achinese, Acholi, Afar, Afrikaans, Alekano, Aleut, Amahuaca, Amarakaeri, Amis, Anaang, Andaandi, Dongolawi, Anuta, Ao Naga, Aragonese, Arbëreshë Albanian, Arvanitika Albanian, Asháninka, Ashéninka Perené, Asu (Tanzania), Atayal, Balinese, Bari, Basque, Batak Dairi, Batak Karo, Batak Mandailing, Batak Simalungun, Batak Toba, Bemba (Zambia), Bena (Tanzania), Bikol, Bislama, Borana-Arsi-Guji Oromo, Bosnian, Breton, Buginese, Candoshi-Shapra, Caquinte, Cashibo-Cacataibo, Catalan, Cebuano, Central Aymara, Central Kurdish, Chamorro, Chavacano, Chiga, Chiltepec Chinantec, Chokwe, Chuukese, Cimbrian, Cofán, Congo Swahili, Cook Islands Māori, Cornish, Corsican, Creek, Crimean Tatar, Croatian, Czech, Danish, Dehu, Dutch, Eastern Arrernte, Eastern Oromo, Embu, English, Ese Ejja, Faroese, Fijian, Filipino, Finnish, French, Friulian, Galician, Ganda, Ga’anda, German, Gheg Albanian, Gilbertese, Gooniyandi, Gourmanchéma, Guadeloupean Creole French, Gusii, Haitian, Hani, Hiligaynon, Ho-Chunk, Hopi, Huastec, Hungarian, Icelandic, Iloko, Inari Sami, Indonesian, Irish, Istro Romanian, Italian, Ixcatlán Mazatec, Jamaican Creole English, Japanese, Javanese, Jola-Fonyi, K'iche', Kabuverdianu, Kala Lagaw Ya, Kalaallisut, Kalenjin, Kamba (Kenya), Kaonde, Karelian, Kashubian, Kekchí, Kenzi, Mattokki, Khasi, Kikuyu, Kimbundu, Kinyarwanda, Kituba (DRC), Kongo, Konzo, Kuanyama, Kven Finnish, Kölsch, Ladin, Ladino, Latgalian, Ligurian, Lithuanian, Lombard, Low German, Lower Sorbian, Luba-Lulua, Lule Sami, Luo (Kenya and Tanzania), Luxembourgish, Macedo-Romanian, Makhuwa, Makhuwa-Meetto, Makonde, Makwe, Malagasy, Malaysian, Maltese, Mandinka, Manx, Maore Comorian, Maori, Mapudungun, Matsés, Mauritian Creole, Meriam Mir, Meru, Minangkabau, Mirandese, Mohawk, Montenegrin, Munsee, Murrinh-Patha, Mwani, Mískito, Naga Pidgin, Ndonga, Neapolitan, Ngazidja Comorian, Niuean, Nobiin, Nomatsiguenga, North Ndebele, Northern Kurdish, Northern Qiandong Miao, Northern Sami, Northern Uzbek, Norwegian, Nyanja, Nyankole, Occitan, Orma, Oroqen, Palauan, Paluan, Pampanga, Papiamento, Pedi, Picard, Pichis Ashéninka, Piemontese, Pijin, Pintupi-Luritja, Pohnpeian, Polish, Portuguese, Potawatomi, Quechua, Romanian, Romansh, Rotokas, Rundi, Rwa, Samburu, Samoan, Sango, Sangu (Tanzania), Saramaccan, Sardinian, Scottish Gaelic, Sena, Seri, Seselwa Creole French, Shambala, Shawnee, Shipibo-Conibo, Shona, Sicilian, Silesian, Slovak, Slovenian, Soga, Somali, Soninke, South Ndebele, Southern Aymara, Southern Qiandong Miao, Southern Sami, Southern Sotho, Spanish, Sranan Tongo, Standard Estonian, Standard Latvian, Standard Malay, Sundanese, Swahili, Swati, Swedish, Swiss German, Tagalog, Tahitian, Taita, Tedim Chin, Tetum, Tetun Dili, Tiv, Tok Pisin, Tokelau, Tonga (Tonga Islands), Tosk Albanian, Tsonga, Tswana, Tumbuka, Turkish, Turkmen, Tzeltal, Tzotzil, Uab Meto, Ume Sami, Upper Guinea Crioulo, Upper Sorbian, Venetian, Veps, Võro, Walloon, Walser, Wangaaybuwan-Ngiyambaa, Waray (Philippines), Warlpiri, Wayuu, Welsh, West Central Oromo, Western Abnaki, Western Frisian, Wik-Mungkan, Wiradjuri, Wolof, Xhosa, Yanesha', Yao, Yapese, Yindjibarndi, Yucateco, Zulu, Záparo

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.
    View full profile

Glyphs

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OpenType Features

Production Type ships OpenType fonts with built-in features such as ligatures, alternates, or pictograms. Here are some of the most important features. To view a comprehensive list of features, please refer to the PDF specimen.

Capital Spacing

UPPERCASE ­

off

Case-Sensitive Forms

[CASE-SENSITIVE] !¡?¿-–—()[]{}‹›«»· ­

off

Small Capitals

Small Capitals ­

off

Small Capitals From Capitals

SMALL CAPITALS ­

off

Standard Ligatures

fichier flicker affliger ­

off

Discretionary Ligatures

Th ct st sp ­

off

Historical Forms

History ­

off

Slashed Zero

0123456789 ­

off

Lining Figures

H0123456789 ­

off

Proportional Figures

H0123456789 ­

off

Oldstyle Figures

H0123456789 ­

off

Tabular Figures

H0123456789 ­

off

Superscript

H012345679 ­

off

Scientific Inferiors

H012345679 ­

off

Numerators

H012345679 ­

off

Denominators

H012345679 ­

off

Fractions

1/4 1/2 3/4 ­

off

Ordinals

2a 2o NO No Nº N° nO no nº n° ­

off

Ornaments

+ − ± × ÷ = < > ­

off

Stylistic Set 1

Diagram ­

off

Stylistic Set 2

Higgins’ Painting ­

off

Stylistic Set 3

012345678910 ­

off

Stylistic Set 4

012345678910 ­

off

Stylistic Set 5

<>+−×÷=± ­

off

Stylistic Set 6

abcdefghij ­

off

Pair well with Columbia Sans

  • Columbia Sans ExtraLight

    For their “Ones to Watch” series

    Cogito Light

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  • Columbia Sans ExtraLight Italic

    For their “Ones to Watch” series

    Antique Gothic SemiLight

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Discover the Columbia Sans family

  • Columbia Sans Display

    12 styles: ExtraLight, ExtraLight Italic, Light, Light Italic, Regular, Italic, Medium, Medium Italic, SemiBold, SemiBold Italic, Bold, Bold Italic

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    Useful type with an edge.

    Useful type with an edge.

    Production Type provide retail as well as dedicated creative services in typeface design for brands.

    Based in Paris and Shanghai, Production Type is a digital type design agency. Its activities span from the exclusive online distribution of its retail type for design professionals, to the creation of custom typefaces for the industrial, luxury, and media sectors.
    Enquire about custom fonts