Fuerte Type’s striking serif Sakral finds a home between medieval imagery and modern technicality

Having previously collaborated with the likes of Colophon Foundry and Typotheque, independent type design studio Fuerte Type, based between Dubai and Colonia, are determined to craft typefaces that are striking as they are rigorous. To that end, their serif release, Sakral, is no exception to the rule. Gothic, sharp and enticing, Sakral’s distinct construction doesn’t fall far from its medieval inspiration, having initially found its influence in 2018 when Fuerte’s director, Fermín Guerrero, admired the elongated serifs of hand-rendered, archaic signs in Zurich’s old town. The location of which, rife with churches and religious imagery, also inspired Sakral’s name – which is the German word for ‘Sacred.’ Having opted for an approach equally analogue to the old town’s signs, Guerrero tells us, “the brush is the tool I’m less familiar with and this was precisely the tool used to produce the lettering that sparked Sakral.” Taking time to study the vintage inscriptions to better understand their unique contrast, modulation and features. “A problem was figuring out how to then treat those attributes to work in a very different context,” Guerrero expands, determined to figure out how to maintain a balance of the analogue and organic while providing the level of consistency required in contemporary type design. “Some of the features found in the lettering,” he continues, giving the extremely elongated serifs and high letter-width contrast as examples, “had to be tuned down and harmonised to avoid letters clashing and to create a pleasing rhythm,” finely tuning these contrary elements in order not to lose the character of the typeface. “I concluded that the notion of being handpainted could be injected in the design without the need of creating the letters with a brush,” Guerrero explains, “as my intention was not to make a strict interpretation of those letters, but rather use them as a starting point.”