Introduction
Xenois: a typeface microcosm created by Erik Faulhaber that includes an innovative take on the Antiqua typeface class
Xenois is Erik Faulhaber’s third comprehensive font family. The fundamental design principles that he used for the first two families – the homogeneous underlying form of the letters of Generis and the clear-cut, reduced-to-basics style of Aeonis – are continued in Xenois.
Of what will finally be a total of six Xenois styles, Sans, Serif and Semi are initially described in the following.
Reduction to the essentials is the design formula employed throughout the whole of the Xenois™ family. Although conventional letter forms are retained, elements that are not absolutely indispensable to facilitate reading flow have been removed. The treatment of the spurs found on the stems of many lower case letters is a characteristic example of this approach. The elimination of these spurs has no effect on quality of legibility while, on the other hand, it gives the letters a very distinctive and characteristic primary form on which Erik Faulhaber has rung the changes in the various Xenois styles. The font has an objective feel as a result of this simplification but is provided with more vitality through the use of rounded punctuation marks. The superb legibility of the clear-cut characters is enhanced by a generous x-height and open counters that are also retained in the bold variants.
Every style of Xenois is available in the five weights Light, Regular, Medium, Bold and Heavy. Faulhaber has succeeded in maintaining the precise coordination of stroke weight, contrast, internal spaces and character width within each style and has, at the same time, ensured that stroke weight is harmonised across all the styles. Xenois thus represents a font microcosm within which the various styles can be seamlessly combined with each other.
All variants have a corresponding Italic font in which the ‘e’ is rounded and the lowercase ‘a’ has a highly distinctive open form. There are also various numeral sets with oldstyle and lining figures for setting proportional text and table columns. With its pan-European inventory of glyphs, Xenois supports not only western European languages, but also many central European languages. A selection of ligatures and arrow symbols complete the range of characters on offer.
In its finalised form, Xenois will consist of six styles; to begin with, Sans, Semi and Serif are being published.The robust Xenois Sans has a somewhat detached and objective appearance and has almost imperceptible variations of stroke weight. It is an all-rounder and can be used to set headlines and text.
Xenois Semi also has no serifs, but marked contrasts of stroke weight give it a delicate and formal quality.
Xenois Serif has serifs with curved attachments to stems and a marked contrast in stroke weights. The objective feel that results from the reduction of form to a minimum provides this serif font with a fine and unmistakable character. The fact that this variant lacks spurs may also be seen as a minor revolution in font design. Without fundamentally changing the serif typeface concept, Faulhaber manages to breathe new life into the Antiqua genre. Thanks to its marked individuality, this font can be used not only to set texts and headlines, but also to create logos.
The standardised character proportions and matching stroke weights mean that the Xenois family is ideal for corporate use. Font styles that perfectly harmonise with each other provide for extreme flexibility combined with an excellent recognition factor that can help you meet all design challenges. Meticulously designed details, unpretentious individual forms, a clear-cut appearance, consistency in stylistic features and carefully balanced proportions make Xenois a versatile and innovative tool for use in demanding typographic contexts.
Design principles behind an effective font
While working on Xenois, Erik Faulhaber formulated the following five design rules for a good quality font that he himself followed while creating Xenois:
| 1. | An effective font should be consistent with the general laws of visual perception. It should be developed at the detail level. |
| 2. | An effective font should be restricted to the essentials in terms of form. It should remain in the background and act as a tool only. |
| 3. | An effective font should consist of uniform elements. It must be logically constructed and have a balanced grey-scale. |
| 4. | An effective font is a versatile font. It must be lucid and legible in all contexts. |
| 5. | An effective font is timeless. It must outlast changes to requirements, media and techniques. |