Janusz M. Nowacki: Kurier and Iwona

A two-element sans-seriff typeface, created by Małgorzata Budyta from Warszawa in 1973.

The project was a diploma work in typographic lettering at the Academy of Fine Arts in Warsaw. (Helena Nowak designed another font, Helikon, also as a diploma work.)
The Kurier typeface project was supervised by Roman Tomaszewski, running then practical classes and giving lectures on typographic lettering.

The work was continued at the Centre of Printing Types (Ośrodek Pism Drukarskich) until 1975. Kurier was shown – among other fonts – during the ATypI Congress in Warsaw that year (an exhibition in the Wilanów Poster Museum).

Kurier was created as a typeface destined for newspapers and other kinds of press typeset using the linotype technology. So, it had a classical triad of fonts (normal, italic and semi-bold) adapted for linotype matrices. Particular letters and other characters were designed in fields corresponding the to width units used in that technology. By the design principle the types had to endure a series of technological processes destructive to their graphic shape, for instance: casting a row from a linotype metal alloy, so-called burning of brass matrices during casting, preparation of duplicate printing forms (stereotypes), printing on rotating machines with the use of a liquid paint on low-quality press paper (from rolls). All that contributed to the provision of adequate light inside and between letters as well as of the so-called paint traps at certain crossings of the character elements in the design.

The types were to be produced by the Katowice Linotype Matrices Factory. The full documentation from the Centre of Printing Types was sent to the Factory. However, the Kurier types were never produced industrially. The so-called hot metal typesetting technology of texts reached its end during the eighties and the fall of the Matrices Factory.

The present printing technologies do not impose the above mentioned limitations. Nevertheless, the aesthetic quality of the typeface inclined me to making of the digital version of the Kurier font. An alternative version, called Iwona, without the paint traps, was also made.

All the above fonts have been generated in the following formats: OpenType (otf), True Type (ttf) and TeX (pfb, tfm, enc and map files).

– small caps: Kurier - small caps – oldstyle numbers: Kurier - oldstyle numbers – cyrillic: Kurier - cyrillic – greek: Kurier - greek