Behind F37 Holborn: Building a typeface grounded in place and era

Type specimens are often confined to screens or reduced to a handful of pages, but F37® has consistently pushed against that limitation. With F37 Holborn, their approach finds its fullest expression yet through a collaboration with London-based studio Nomad. Together, they’ve created a 136-page book that reimagines 100 business signs across Holborn’s five historic districts, each redesigned in a 1970s aesthetic using the new typeface. The project serves dual purposes: a fully realised type specimen and a physical exploration of London’s typographic heritage. F37 Holborn itself captures the decade when corporate modernism and creative expression coexisted in type, drawing influence from Letraset and ITC while balancing geometric structure with grotesque warmth. The book transforms the traditional specimen format into an invitation to experience typography as part of a place rather than simply viewing it on a page. We spoke with Rick Banks, Founder of F37®, alongside Nomad’s Co-founder Terry Stephens and Design Director Natalie Doto, who share how this collaboration took shape and what it reveals about making type design visible. TBI: Hi Rick, Natalie and Terry, how are you all? RB: Great, thank you! We’re excited to finally get this project out into the world and hope people love the font, the collaboration and the outcome as much as we do.