Zenga—yet another incredibly unique typeface from The Northern Block. Zenga is described as “a contemporary typeface that fuses precise geometry with subtle hints of blackletter forms.”

In Zenga, The Northern Block have created a typeface with a unique fusion of elements that strike the viewer’s eye like dissonant chords in the middle of a traditionally melodic musical piece. Although core values from the gothic style are visible, interesting contemporary features have been added in a highly original way. The result is a typeface that looks forward and back, that fuses a contemporary hardness with a gentle hand-drawn quality. There are hints of old Europe in the gothic allusions that are discreetly offset by a tiny hint of Brutalism.

But none of these matings are flagrant or overstated. The typeface features contrasting tapers and unique angles, but these compelling features always feel natural, never contrived or stressed. The letters consequently offer either a staid, direct feel or a slight hint of the kinetic. Per the former, consider the uppercase ‘Q’. The letter looks directly at the viewer, its tail accentuating that confidence. The straight lines and peaked top give the letter a forthright quality, a reliable hardness. But with some slight adjustments to direction and angles, the letters can have a jaunty, slightly less serious appearance, as can be seen in the ‘Z’ and ‘Y’.

On an overall psychic level, the result of Zenga’s unique configurations is a jagged, sticky quality that translates into hard memorability. This is a typeface to contemplate and appreciate for its originality and craftsmanship, and one that will imbue any project with active distinction. The typeface has a living, jarring quality that resonates in the viewer’s mind, assuring that any project to which Zenga is attached will grip its audience all the more tightly.

The blend of traditional and contemporary elements at work here only achieves such an astounding result because of The Northern Block’s expertise and creative reach. It sometimes seems that The Block’s subtle and modest descriptions of their projects are perhaps the result of too much immersion in the craft: they can’t feel or be impressed by their own work with the same intensity as us, their respectful audience. Zenga is a prime example of this. The Block explains that the concept behind Zenga was “to adapt core values from the gothic style and develop a design suitable for grid and pixel based platforms.”

Zenga’s suitability to these mediums is of course achieved. But the astounding nature of the precise detail and overarching effect is understated by Zenga’s authors. But we see it. In Zenga, The Northern Block has once again proven that typography has no final frontier, that its continuing history only provides more opportunities for originality to flourish along a respectively broadening palate. Zenga will automatically pull any project into a higher plane of perception. Zenga: another in a long line of masterpieces from The Northern Block.