The NN Arosa typeface family, designed by Edgar Walthert, draws its inspiration from the charm and craftsmanship of classic Swiss tourism posters.
Originally commissioned by a Swiss client who provided a book of vintage travel art as a starting point, Walthert set out not to revive these classic type styles but to create a fresh interpretation that captures the essence of Swiss graphic heritage.
Rather than relying on calligraphic traditions, the letterforms in NN Arosa are inspired by the pragmatic yet expressive hand-drawn styles that early 20th-century graphic designers favored for Swiss tourism graphics.
Designers from the likes of Hugo Laubi, Karl Bickel and Carl Böckli often crafted letters that were bold, clear, and unbound by strict typographic conventions, making each form feel uniquely tied to the vibrant posters of the time.
Walthert’s approach to the NN Arosa family honors this legacy, reimagining it into a Swiss constructed humanist sans serif with its own spirit.

The NN Arosa type family is conceived as a super family which will be released over time. It is composed of three distinct versions, text, display and script which embody different facets of this aesthetic.
The here present text version, designed for optimal legibility, refines some of the more intricate characteristics, making it versatile and reader-friendly.

NN Arosa’s character set covers a wide range of central and east European languages and has a broad ability to express itself in various typographic situations. Special attention was put on the design of small caps as we believe will set a new typographic trend!

The type families NN Arosa Display and NN Arosa Script will be released at a later point and will then complement the text family.