Martian Grotesk is a large typeface family originally designed for the screen which consists of a variable font with 2 axes of variation and 63 styles: Condensed to Ultra Wide, Thin to Ultra Black.
The font style is characterized by some brutality and assertiveness. Overhanging terminals, a closed aperture, and an almost complete lack of contrast lead to this effect. Additionally, some elements of the letters are especially enlarged.
This font gives any text the impression of being a “signature” style. Nevertheless, we still maintain the golden mean between its rebellious nature and readability.
We created Martian Grotesk for the web and digital project world. When laying out web pages, frontend developers are constantly faced with the fact that uneven metrics do not allow text to be evenly placed on some design element, for example, on a button. Instead, they have to compensate in some way, like making the top padding smaller and the bottom padding larger in CSS.
This little deal really hurts. Also, if your project adheres to design system principles, you might be unable to stand a lack of systematic approach when working with fonts.
We researched and calculated vertical metrics and set them up in a way that guarantees equal space above the cap height and under the baseline. This enables the text labels to be evenly placed on buttons, inputs, lists, and forms.
In addition, we found a proper ratio of the letter heights, so, with commonly used font sizes—10, 15, and 20 pixels—the glyph heights stick to the pixel grid. As a result, the letter shapes become sharper, which reduces the load on the reader’s eyes and simply looks much better. The typeface also comes equipped with OpenType and TrueType hinting, and Martian Grotesk appears legible on most platforms, even when being rendered in small sizes.
When coupled together, all the above features make Martian Grotesk a reasonable choice for any user interface design.
Martian Grotesk right now is a work-in-progress product. The font is completely ready for professional use, however, many great features are still ahead! For example, support for Cyrillic characters, italics, more diacritics, and additional Latin-based languages.
