FF Unit Slab

Designer: Christian Schwartz, Erik Spiekermann, Kris Sowersby // Foundry: FontFont // Country of origin: United States, Germany, New Zealand // Release year: 2009 // Classification: Humanist/Grotesque Slab

The compact FF Unit, described by FontFont as “FF Meta’s grown-up, no-nonsense sister,” was released in 2003 as a regimented alternative to Erik Spiekermann’s famous typeface. Later, as Spiekermann and Christian Schwartz were working on FF Meta Serif, they also developed FF Unit Slab. It’s a fitting companion to FF Unit, with thick, wedge-shaped slabs that maintain FF Unit’s businesslike demeanor without making it too stiff or mechanical. Thanks to their concurrent development, the two serifs can work together, along with either of their sans serif counterparts. Good for: Saving space without losing legibility. An unconventional typographic hierarchy combining serif and slab, in lieu of serif and sans. Twenty-first-century business.