Slovak National Gallery

SNG Sans is a custom typeface designed specifically for use in the new visual identity of the renovated building of the Slovak National Gallery in Bratislava. The starting point for the design was the construction and proportions of Futura and Universal Grotesk, two typefaces that dominated editorial design and branding in Czechoslovakia in the second half of the 20th century, precisely at the time of the construction of the gallery’s iconic bridge, which is also the most prominent part of the current reconstruction.

Formally, SNG Sans is a constructed geometric sans-serif typeface featuring eight weights with italics, small caps, broad Latin language support, multiple sets of figures, and various OpenType features. The typeface is primarily intended for display setting — this is reflected in the wide range of weights from Hair to Black, a large number of glyph variants, and significant variability in glyph proportions — glyphs such as n, m, u are narrow, while circular glyphs such as o, b, d are wide and round.

In case text setting is needed, a special stylistic set can be used, which contains glyphs with more natural proportions, thus making reading text in smaller sizes easier. The standard static font styles are also complemented by a variable font, where, in addition to smoothly adjusting the weight, it is also possible to dynamically change the slant of italics, up to 20°.

SNG Sans also includes a set of symbols and pictograms for navigation systems in the buildings of the Slovak National Gallery, which share the same visual language as the typeface.