Jonathan Hill established The Northern Block back in 2006, a design studio perfectly situated in the historic and picturesque landscape of Newcastle upon Tyne, England. Jonathan approaches type design in a way that maintains an impeccable balance between contemporary aesthetics that will meet the needs of graphic designers, and a strong element of individuality that makes the foundry’s work stand well apart from the rest.
Jonathan found great artistic influence through the sardonicism and wit of The Designer’s Republic, an anti-establishment design studio in Sheffield, England. Their own use of the phrase, “North Of Nowhere,” paired with reference to the term, “The Eastern Bloc,” became the origin of his studio’s name.
Working as a designer in the music industry, Jonathan discovered the high frequency at which new, innovative fonts were being developed. Rian Hughes from Device Fonts, and the Identikal type foundry both played a role in Jonathan’s personal design inspiration. “Their work was bold and exciting and gave me a better understanding of how type design created another layer of detail,” he explained.
The Northern Block gives Jonathan a space to fully explore his creative freedom “without the constraints imposed by external influence,” as he said. The studio champions collaboration between other graphic designers and himself, fostering a supportive environment of artistic cooperation that allows them to refine their work together as a joint venture.
The Northern Block is especially known for crafting type designs that echo visual concepts of the more advancing industries of our modern world, categories that include computers, electronics, mobile technology, and video gaming — like Borda, used in Tom Clancy’s The Division.
Designed by Rebecca Hurst, one of The Northern Block’s most recent releases is Rosina, a geometric sans serif that features a bounty of 1920s charisma. With a graceful architecture that’s clearly an homage to the glory of the Art Deco period, Rosina effortlessly balances that classical beauty with contemporary intention.
Sophisticated and dynamic, Rosina is well suited for captivating displays and posh branding applications, yet it’s also a uniquely stunning choice for web content, publishing, and elegant body copy.
Rosina is available in Thin, Light, Regular, Medium, Bold, and UltraBold for remarkable versatility. It offers contextual alternates, case sensitive forms, discretionary ligatures, standard ligatures, fractions, superiors, and inferiors for additional design flexibility. Multilingual support extends to Basic Latin, Western European, Euro, Catalan, Baltic, Turkish, Central European, Romanian, Pan African Latin, Dutch, and Basic Greek for worldwide accessibility.
We encourage you to visit The Northern Block’s wide-ranging portfolio available through YouWorkForThem. With 100 products available, you’re sure to find the perfect font for your next design project!
