Syntax® Font Family

Syntax® Roman (Linotype Originals) More details ... Add to shopping cart Price from: US$ 26.00

Syntax® Italic (Linotype Originals) More details ... Add to shopping cart Price from: US$ 26.00

Syntax® Bold (Linotype Originals) More details ... Add to shopping cart Price from: US$ 26.00

Syntax® Black (Linotype Originals) More details ... Add to shopping cart Price from: US$ 26.00

Syntax® Ultra Black (Linotype Originals) More details ... Add to shopping cart Price from: US$ 26.00

Syntax® Central European Roman (Linotype Originals) More details ... Add to shopping cart Price from: US$ 26.00

Syntax® Central European Italic (Linotype Originals) More details ... Add to shopping cart Price from: US$ 26.00

Syntax® Central European Bold (Linotype Originals) More details ... Add to shopping cart Price from: US$ 26.00

Syntax® Central European Black (Linotype Originals) More details ... Add to shopping cart Price from: US$ 26.00

Syntax® Central European Ultra Black (Linotype Originals) More details ... Add to shopping cart Price from: US$ 26.00

Syntax® CE Value Pack (Linotype Originals) More details ... Add to shopping cart Price from: US$ 95.00

Syntax® Complete Family Value Pack (Linotype Originals) More details ... Add to shopping cart Price from: US$ 95.00

With Syntax™, Hans Eduard Meier wanted to prove that even a grotesque can be eminently legible. Even today, the prejudice that sanserifed typefaces are less legible than serifed typefaces has stubbornly remained. This conservative attitude definitely originates with unsuccessful attempts by Meier’s predecessors. Paul Renner began Futura® with essentially similar intentions, but followed the dogmatism of the Bauhaus too much. Even Otl Aicher never managed to prove that his Rotis® Sans was as [...]

Almost half a century has passed since Hans Eduard Meier drew the first pencil sketches in 1955 which would provide the basis for the forms and scope of today´s Linotype Syntax typeface family. Considering the technical developments which led from hot metal composition to digitization, the passage of time is a strong affirmation of the timelessness of the Syntax design. The five weights of Syntax Antiqua were the last hot metal types produced by the German type foundry Stempel AG. The [...]

Meta™ is not part of the Linotype portfolio. Alternative typefaces are Frutiger™, ITC Officina Sans® and Linotype Syntax™.

Syntax™ was designed by Swiss typographer Hans Eduard Meier, and issued in 1968 by the D. Stempel AG type foundry as their last hot metal type family. Meier used an unusual rationale in the design of this sans serif typeface; it has the shapes of humanist letters or oldstyle types (such as Sabon), but with a modified monoline treatment. The original drawings were done in 1954; first by writing the letters with a brush, then redrawing their essential linear forms, and finally adding balanced amounts of weight to the skeletons to produce optically monoline letterforms. Meier wanted to subtly express the rhythmical dynamism of written letters and at the same time produce a legible sans serif typeface. This theme was supported by using a very slight slope in the roman, tall ascenders, terminals at right angles to stroke direction, caps with classical proportions, and the humanist style a and g. The original foundry metal type was digitized in 1989 to make this family of four romans and one italic. Meier completely reworked Syntax in 2000, completing an expanded and improved font family that is available exclusively from Linotype GmbH as Linotype Syntax.