Konrad is a contemporary take on the first printed roman typeface – designed by Martina Meier. The first roman typeface was printed in 1465 by the Germans Konrad Sweynheym and Arnold Pannartz in the monastery of Subiaco, Italy.

In 2015, Swiss graphic designer Martina Meier discovered type specimens of early roman fonts in the depths of the library at the Zurich University of the Arts. Hooked by the visual power of this genre, she started to design a contemporary interpretation of this proto-roman typeface.

After a year of researching, sketching, vector polishing, spacing, and kerning, she finished Konrad’s first weight. Martina went ahead and designed a regular and bold cut to match. The Konrad family has three weights, Regular, Medium, and Bold. Archetypical elements from gothic scripts have been embedded into this modern and clean contemporary roman. The typeface covers a broad character set extended with unique and obscure signs. 

True to its style, Nouvelle Noire and Martina Meier designed a microsite to showcase the typeface, www.nn-konrad.ch, retracing the journey of the two name-giving protagonists Konrad Sweynheym and Arnold Pannartz.

For in-depth information, please visit the microsite: www.nn-konrad.ch