Munich Re Sans
Commissioned by Tilmann Fulda at the Munich Re Group and their external consultant Marcus Maurer of Keller Maurer Design. Designed with Christian Schwartz. The Munich Re Reinsurance group (MR) asked us to draw a new typeface for all corporate design matters that was to replace a customised version of Univers. The new MunichRe Sans sports many technical features that help improve MR’s diverse and often very complex typographical applications.
MunichRe Sans takes roots in the grotesque types of the 1950s (among others, Dick Dooijes’ Mercator for the Lettergieterij Amsterdam) and reinterprets them in a contemporary light, while paying close attention to MR’s stylistic and typographic requirements. Mercator specifically had interesting features for a starting point, but we and MR needed something more modern and serious, with a less quirky expression. In the end, the colour, proportions and overall tone changed to a European Grotesk with American Gothic proportions and contrast; one that is clear and fresh while simultaneously authoritative, and for a re-insurance company quite approachable.
12 styles: Thin, Light, Regular, Medium, Bold, Black, each with italics, small caps, fractions, multiple figure styles. 2008 – 2009. Not available for licensing.
