Niko
Design Concept
Niko began as a typeface for a daily newspaper. This is particularly challenging, as the paper and printing conditions are not very good. The columns are narrow and are packed with information. The text is not uniform but appears in many different hierarchies – from headlines to subheadings, main body text, and captions. This allows the reader to navigate a page and make informed decisions on what to read. Apart from these practical requirements, a newspaper typeface needs to be reliable and friendly yet distinct and precise. And finally, it must achieve the highest standard of legibility.
Niko has a relatively large x-height and open letter forms which emphasize the sense of horizontality, leading readers’ eyes along the line. Interesting are the wedge-shaped stem heads which add liveliness and variety to the carefully crafted letter forms. Niko is a friendly but also clear and crisp typeface. It is very legible in small sizes and well-suited for continuous reading.
Niko’s humanistic design makes for a very comfortable reading. Notably the true italic includes subtle calligraphic elements which lend a fresh and lively appearance to the typeface. On the screen, Niko brings warmth and humanity to an otherwise cold medium.
The 54 available styles, including condensed and extra condensed styles, offer tremendous typographic flexibility. This makes Niko a versatile typeface which can be used for a wide range of typographic content including editorials, brochures, webpages, packaging, and corporate design.
Niko Medium is only slightly bolder than Niko Regular, to give the possibility to choose between two text weights.
Niko was originally commissioned by the German daily newspaper “Weser Kurier”, where it is used down to the size of 6.5pt.