The Yarza Twins’ New Batavier typeface has been rescued from a 1928 travel poster

Date
5 September 2016

Design studio The Yarza Twins has rescued a font from a travel poster by Francesca Claussen, reviving it to create the New Batavier typeface.

The original poster from 1928 announces a ship route between Rotterdam and London by Wm. H. Müller & Co’s Batavier Line, and shows elements of classic Dutch graphic design with bold constructivist type. This is what Eva and Marta Yarza have traced to use as a basis for their new face.

“We found the poster when reading a book on travelling posters, and fell in love at first sight with the font,” say the twins. “We couldn’t find a lot of information about it, but we felt we wanted to be able to use it.”

After tracing the available letters, the twins created a whole set and then started redrawing each individual letter, refining them to give a consistent feel. The sharp, geometric shapes have been stylised, given slightly rounder edges, and are overall a bit chunkier, adapting the typeface for a contemporary context.

Above

The Yarza Twins: New Batavier

Above

The Yarza Twins: New Batavier

Above

The Yarza Twins: New Batavier

Above

The Yarza Twins: New Batavier

Above

The Yarza Twins: New Batavier

Above

The Yarza Twins: New Batavier

Above

The Yarza Twins: New Batavier

Above

The Yarza Twins: New Batavier

Above

The Yarza Twins: New Batavier

Above

The Yarza Twins: New Batavier

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Jenny Brewer

Jenny oversees our editorial output across work, news and features. She was previously It’s Nice That's news editor. Get in touch with any big creative stories, tips, pitches, news and opinions, or questions about all things editorial.

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