Deutsche Bahn Serif
Regular
Add type sampleBold
Add type sampleBold Italic
Add type sampleItalic
Add type sampleSmall Caps
Add type sampleCredits
- Designer(s)
- Christian Schwartz, Erik Spiekermann
- Foundry(ies)
- None
- Release Year
- 2005
- Country of Origin
- Germany
- Classification
- Serif
- Original Format
- Digital
- Distributor(s)
- exclusive
- Tags
- corporate type, railway, super-family
Background
Commissioned by United Designers (now edenspiekermann) for Deutsche Bahn AG. Not available for relicensing.
“Between 2003 and 2006 (possibly starting even earlier), United Designers (now edenspiekermann) undertook a major rebranding of Deutsche Bahn (DB), one of Europe’s largest companies. Print communication needed to be better coordinated, sub-brands needed to be better integrated, and a strategy for the future had to be mapped out, and a new type family was going to be a cornerstone of this.”
“While the starting point for the serif face was my interpretation of Garamond No. 3, it evolved into a decidedly more German take on this source as work progressed, getting narrower and more regular in its proportions and bringing in quite a bit of influnce from Jan Tschichold’s Sabon, especially in the italics. The serifs ended up being almost slab-like, with the bracketing only subtly implied by slight swelling of the strokes at the ends.”