The Story of The Northern Block’s Next Series

Between 2012 and 2017, several of The Northern Block’s typefaces reached a new level of maturity. This raised a question: how could successful designs keep evolving instead of standing still? The answer became the ‘Next Series’. Its focus: to refine, expand, and futureproof the foundry’s best-known typefaces through technology, collaboration, and cultural expertise.

Client feedback and the demands of the digital world shaped the Next Series. The Northern Block developed Lintel Next, Loew Next, Loew Next Arabic, Loew Next Devanagari, Nuber Next, and Nurom Next, investing years to create adaptable typefaces for web, mobile, and global branding environments. They improved legibility, built flexible weight systems, and ensured support for small-screen interfaces so the designs perform smoothly across digital and physical platforms.

Collaboration is central to the series. The foundry partnered with international specialists in Arabic, Devanagari, and Hebrew to ensure cultural accuracy and effective multilingual communication. Nurom Next, for example, now supports over 350 languages, with an Arabic extension currently in development.

The Next Series is more than just visual refinement. It shows a new way of thinking. Combining technical skill with cultural awareness, The Northern Block has built a process based on evolution, adaptability, and shared expertise. These typefaces are made not just to last but to grow with global communication needs.

Next Series

Foundry: The Northern Block
Type Designer: Jonathan Hill, Tasos Varipatis, and collaborators (depending on the individual typeface)
Creative Lead: Donna Wearmouth
Weights: Light, Regular, Bold
Styles: Normal, Diamond, Dot, Square, Line
Formats: OTF, TTF, WOFF, WOFF2

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