Greed, the typeface, is sweet.

Greed is pompous, ostentatious, and impolite—a essential expression of our basest societal instincts. It’s a daring, big-shouldered, unapologetic, and maximalist typeface, completely positioned for 2025, the yr of extra is extra. Gordon Gekko could be proud.

Greed’s designer, Positype’s Neil Summerour, started his analysis twelve years in the past after a buddy and fellow designer advised that he create a collection primarily based on the seven lethal sins. Wooden kind influences anchored among the collection, however for Greed, he turned to the intricate lettering of US foreign money. (The lethal sins collection by no means took form as prompted, however the immediate greater than served its function for the eventual improvement and launch of Greed.)

Actually, I really feel that a lot of politics and society at the moment is pushed by Greed. Name it what it’s.

Neil Summerour

Summerour’s course of is research-heavy, absorbing all he can about his chosen influences, together with, he admits, “an excessive amount of time learning US foreign money underneath a loupe.” He needed to create a lowercase model (is it shocking that US foreign money communicates in ALL CAPS?) and discover his standpoint throughout the many inconsistencies he present in US foreign money lettering, so his analysis went right into a drawer, and he began sketching.

In typical Summerour style, there are numerous quirky extras, glyphs, and options. Greed encompasses an entire Latin set, together with Vietnamese. There’s a full set of numerals (as a result of, cash!). Designers can play with stylistic options, small numerals, super- and subscripts, Open-type-enabled fractions, cap top numerals, and a big collection of world foreign money symbols. Including to Greed’s flexibility, Summerour took care to finesse the gaps inherent in vast, massive serif typefaces. In case your Open Sort Normal Ligatures characteristic is on, you’ll discover a set of alternate lowercase letter units, similar to ‘n-n,’ that will help you alter your designs rapidly and effectively.

Greed was launched on inauguration day, which Summerour admits was intentional political sarcasm. There’s no higher image of greed than the gilded buffoon presently occupying the White Home. And whereas we dread what tragic and terrifying type the human impulse will take within the years to come back, we’re wanting ahead to seeing the evolution of the typeface. Summerour says it was a problem to tackle, and he’s devising methods to push Greed even additional.

Be taught extra about Greed and Positype.