Hasta La Ideas

FF Mark Regular

When was the last time you had some proper fun trying out a typeface online? FontFont‘s new FF Mark is not only a lovely geometric sans but you can really test it out on its own dedicated microsite…

FF Mark Black Italic

It’s not the first time FontFont has made a site for a single typeface – in 2008, for example, it launched metaserif.com, a dedicated site for the then new counterpart to Erik Spiekermann’s classic FF Meta.

But as well as expertly displaying the capabilities of FF Mark, ffmark.com shows how much the internet has changed in that short time – the new microsite is unlike any online type sampler I’ve played around with.

FF Mark Heavy Italic

FF Mark Light

While it details the history of the design of this contemporary take on the geometric face, it also offers an intelligent way of trying out the font, in all its weights, in different colours and backgrounds.

Users can tweak the size and leading on-screen (as above), type their own text in and manipulate it, even see how some example texts might look across a range of media such as a book cover, an inside spread or poster (see second image from bottom of post).

A brief history of Erbar-Grotesk (1926)

FF Mark is billed as “ze new Germanetric sans” and is the result of a joint project between type designer Hannes von Döhren (of HVD Fonts), FontFont’s Christoph Koeberlin and the company’s Type Department, with creative support from Erik Spiekermann.

Thin compared with Heavy (overlayed)

The microsite also includes some full screen video (featuring typographers) and a history of the geometric sans in Germany, focusing on Universal-Schrift (1925), Erbar-Grotesk (1926), Futura (1927), Kabel (1928), Berthold Grotesk (1928), and Neuzeit-Grotesk (1930).

It’s a great way to showcase this contemporary version of a German classic. Have some fun at ffmark.com.