The impetus behind Felbridge was both ambitious and highly practical: to develop an ideal "online" typeface for use in web pages and electronic media. Robin Nicholas, the family's designer, explains, "I wanted a straightforward sans serif with strong, clear letterforms which would not degrade when viewed in low resolution environments." Not surprisingly, the design also performs exceptionally well in traditional print applications.
In 2001, to achieve his goal, Nicholas adjusted the interior strokes of complex characters like the M and W to prevent on-screen pixel build-up and improve legibility. Characters with round strokes were drawn with squared proportions to take full advantage of screen real estate. In addition, small serifs were added to characters like the I, j and l to improve both legibility and readability. "The result," according to Nicholas, "is a typeface with a slightly humanist feel, economical in use and outstanding legibility - even at relatively small point sizes.
Most sans serif typefaces have italics based on the simple "sloped Roman" principle, but italic forms for Felbridge have been drawn in the tradition of being visually lighter than their related Roman fonts, providing a strong contrast when the italic is used for emphasis in Roman text. The italic letter shapes also have a slightly calligraphic flavor and distinctive "hooked" strokes that improve fluency.
Felbridge is available in four weights of Roman - Light, Regular, Bold and Extra Bold - with complementary italics for the Regular and Bold designs. The result is a remarkably versatile typeface family, equally comfortable in magazine text copy or in display work for advertising and product branding. As a branding typeface, Felbridge works in all environments from traditional hardcopy materials to web design, and is even suitable for general office use. As part of a corporate identity, this no-nonsense typeface family will be a distinctive and effective communications tool.
