Display typeface

from The League of Moveable Type
designed by Trés Seals

1 Style

Black

Best for

  • Headings (display text)
  • Long reading text (body text)
  • User Interfaces (functional text)

License

Free and Open Source

Specialty

With over 25 special ligatures, this typefaces shows in a squarish, at times imperfect, and yet impacting way that it is determined, resisting, and insisting.

My thoughts on The Neue Black

I heard about Trés Seals, the designer of The Neue Black, in this podcast. The mission of his foundry Vocal Type Co. is to highlight stories of underrepresented groups of people through their catalog of historically-inspired typefaces. The Neue Black is based on the signage from the Chicago Freedom Movement, an advocacy campaign spearheaded by Martin Luther King Jr. and the Southern Christian Leadership Conference (SCLC).

Showing The Neue Black, it has a very robust, determined vibe. Stylistic alternates make it a bit softer.
Plenty of stylistic alternates and special ligatures (see st in robust) give you plenty of possibilities to adjust the style to your message.

Besides loving the idea behind Trés Seals’ foundry, I like how squarish, at times imperfect, and yet impacting The Neue Black appears. It’s not super polished, it’s robust. And this perfectly fits to the backstory – being determined, resisting, and insisting. It is best suited for large, short display text. The stylistic alternates give it a slightly softer tone. And I think it shows all its glory set in all caps.

The Neue Black looks so striking in all caps!
Look at that gorgeous exclamation mark!

Recommended Font Pairing

Looking for a match for body text? The Neue Black is a rational, linear sans-serif typeface. If you want something more traditional, choose Besley. For something more modern, rational linear sans-serif, or Inria Sans would make a good match.

The Neue Black (free)
The Neue Black (free)
  • Headings

Learn more about pairing typefaces using the Font Matrix.


What do you think? Is The Neue Black something for an upcoming project? Tell me in the comments below!

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4 Comments

  1. I appreciate the robustness of the Neue Black. Its masculine attitude but far from my personal style. I see its fit in a futuristic-tech-space, a true movie headline character.
    Well, congratulations on your move Oliver! Thank you for being such a responsive and amiable host. 5 stars ⭐

  2. Thank you for sharing your knowledge and providing access to new fonts. I am fairly new to the world of visual communications, and looking forward to using the Neue Black font in some of my upcoming projects. I made a donation to the Vocal Type foundry help ensure their continued creative expression and support their mission.

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