Zorzal

Originally, named Nimba, this typeface was my first venture into crafting true italic characters back in 2022. Initially, it was meant to be a serif font, but as I put more and more hours of work into it, this typeface took on a life of its own, evolving into something unexpected. As James Edmonson aptly puts it: ‘Sometimes you gotta let the font tell you where it wants to go.’ As the project progressed, the serifs gradually diminished until they disappeared entirely, replaced by subtle, graceful flourishes reminiscent of calligraphic strokes. A year later, Zorzal emerged —a font that seamlessly blends into the page like a swift bird darting across the sky, disappearing into screen or paper. Every letter is carefully crafted to harmonize with the next, forming a cohesive flock that gracefully navigates through paragraphs. If you’re seeking a font that combines the readability of a sans serif with a vibrant touch of personality, Zorzal is the bird you’ll want to welcome into your creative arsenal!

Technically speaking, Zorzal is a text oriented typeface, but it can organically adapt for display and branding as well. The large counters, open bowls and brushed terminals, make it legible is most scenarios. Although it has decent contrast, it’s optically adjusted from small sizes. From the aesthetic aspect, Zorzal features a broken crossbar in A, and H, reminiscent of art nouveau and non-conforming activism from 1960’s. While itl appears traditional at first glance, a closer inspection reveals it breaks from the norm in many ways, taking on a fantastical appearance. Zorzal is ideal for projects that may want to showcase an elegant approach without leaving behind modern takes like the flat stem and strokes usually found in sans serifs. With its over 600 glyphs, the family support most roman alphabet languages, and many Cyrillic scripts such a Russian, Serbian, Macedonian, Bulgarian, and Ukrainian. They all feature their respective true italic letter forms.