·I·
Flow & Chisel
or, the
Design Details
of GT Pantheon
Upon a visit to the Pantheon in Rome, Tobias began working on a new typeface that would take inspiration from architectural structures and letterform inscriptions. Noël joined him to devise a larger system, a collaboration that allowed them to explore the alliance of historic shapes with an overall contemporary feel.
Scene One
Sculpted Elegance
The expression of this family is informed by different elements large and small, and by the manner in which they are brought together: stroke transitions, serif shapes, sharp and crisp stroke details.
Chiseled Shapes
GT Pantheon Display is an elegant high-contrast face, emphasized by an overall sharp appearance. In the transitions from thin to thick strokes and from bows into stems, it is reminiscent of letterforms chiseled in stone.
Sculpting Architecture
The typeface takes inspiration from architectural structures, some of which can be described as ‘brutalist’ features, particularly visible in the contrast between left- and right-leaning diagonal strokes. This extravagant side is affirmed by wedge-shaped pointed serifs that guide the eye while reading like a colonnade of columns.
Crisp Appearance
The entire family represents a truly digital design anatomy informed by vectors, inevitably sharp and crisp, almost unimpressed by the ink that makes some historic letterforms seem soft by comparison.
Scene Two
Flowing Rhythm
The foundation of GT Pantheon lies in its contemporary interpretation of historic references, most importantly by employing a present-day approach to strokes of calligraphic quality. Tobias and Noël executed the stroke of a broad-nib pen in a modulated, nuanced manner.
Stroke Flow
The stroke flow of GT Pantheon mimics rapid changes of direction made with a broad-nib pen. The lowercase g is examplary of this movement as the horizontal stroke of the bottom bowl becomes sharp and pointy at the change of direction. The same principle also affirms the horizontal movement of the question mark, changing the stress axis to a reversed contrast.
Expressive Italics
The italic styles are independent companions, underlined by selected characters that undergo a noticeable shape shift. As carefully crafted strokes they remain neither silent nor obtrusive. More so than in the upright weights, these strokes are modulated in simple gestures — exhibited here in the case of lowercase p.
Calligraphic Numerals
True to their separate development from the Latin alphabet, the figures have taken their own path. Their stroke modulation is best characterized as calligraphic, a broad-nib quality that slightly fades from Display to Micro.
