Silentium
DESIGN NOTES
Based on 10th century Carolingian minuscule scripts, Silentium captures the subtle energy and surprising versatility of this courtly manuscript form. As a multi-featured OpenType family, Silentium Pro includes a myriad of alternate forms, ligatures, and titling characters that add an air of tasteful liveliness to contemporary graphic design and typography. It is designed for use at display sizes, and will also work well in text setting as small as 8 points.
Silentium is the Latin word for silence, a discipline commonly practiced in the medieval European monasteries and court scriptoria where the Carolingian script flourished. For scribal monks, who produced some of the most beautiful manuscripts of all time, silence was an ascetic discipline that complemented their refinement of the written symbols of language. Now, more than ten centuries later, Silentium Pro brings the fluid energy of their work to contemporary design and typography. Silentium sparkles, with a quiet but ebullient sense of the human hand.
The Carolingian period is seen as an aesthetic high point by both scholars and practitioners of what we now call roman bookhands and type design. Though the Carolingian minuscule has served as the basis for other contemporary type designs, Silentium Pro is Veljović’s unique interpretation. It captures the energy and legibility of the original manuscripts in a useful, contemporary type design. The lowercase forms for Silentium Pro draw directly on the Carolingian minuscule found in 9th and 10th century manuscripts from the High Period. Because there was no rigid system of a dual alphabet (capital letters stylistically matching lowercase) during this period, the capital forms in Silentium Pro are from Veljović’s own calligraphic work, as well as being inspired by the titles, chapter openings, and initial capital letters in Carolingian manuscripts.
– Text written by Linnea Lundquist
PLAYGROUND
Der Geist liebt das Feste, Gestaltete, er will sich auf seine Zeichen verlassen können, er liebt das Seiende, nicht das Werdende, das Wirkliche und nicht das Mögliche. Er duldet nicht, daß ein Omega eine Schlange oder Vogel werde. In der Natur kann der Geist nicht leben, nur g e g e n sie, nur als ihr Gegenspiel. Glaubst du mir jetzt, Goldmund, daß du nie ein Gelehrter sein wirst?
Font size:
90 px
Line height:
1.2 rem
Letter spacing:
0 px
Weight & Style:
Reset:
STYLES
roman i
roman iI
FEATURES
Feature
Off
On
Discretionary Ligatures
AV CA CE CH CI CO CU ct DA DI ex fr gg HE HR LI MI NK OA OE OI OO ra sh sp st TE TI TO TT ta tz VE
AV CA CE CH CI CO CU ct DA DI ex fr gg HE HR LI MI NK OA OE OI OO ra sh sp st TE TI TO TT ta tz VE
Ornaments
a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t u v w x y z 1 2 3 4 5 6
a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t u v w x y z 1 2 3 4 5 6
Standard Ligatures
fiction affinity fa fb ffj fh fj fk ft ff ffl fl rt tt ty zz
fiction affinity fa fb ffj fh fj fk ft ff ffl fl rt tt ty zz
Stylistic Alternatives
Q R E M a e g gaft ... BINZ
Q R E M a e g gaft ... BINZ
Titling
Affluent
Affluent
Fractions
1/2 1/4 3/4 78/96
1/2 1/4 3/4 78/96
Oldstyle Figures
H5Hill123456789
H5Hill123456789
Scientific Inferiors
H2O | H2SO456
H2O | H2SO456
Superscript
Hand1234 (5+8=)
Hand1234 (5+8=)
Tabular Figures
11,53+00.13:868 00.28×11;55,135 14:99−02,08.117
11,53+00.13:868 00.28×11;55,135 14:99−02,08.117
Slashed Zero
8500,00=8500
8500,00=8500
Case Sensitive Forms
[Target] (New) @Email
[Target] (New) @Email
CHARACTER SET