New release: Action Condensed by Erik van Blokland

RELEASES | 12 JANUARY 2016
Action Condensed Bold
Action Condensed Light
Action Condensed Regular
Action Condensed Medium

Action Condensed was designed for the screen by Dutch design legend Erik van Blokland, who was looking for typefaces for interface design without an overtly neutral personality. Each of the family’s four weights has three grades on the same width, allowing text to change weight on rollover without disrupting the layout. You can see it in action on Erik's own site, letterror.com

All three grades of Action Condensed Regular are shown here,
In addition to the grades being duplexed, the italics also match the widths of the uprights.
The italics also include alternates to the cursive a and g.

Fully Duplexed

Within each weight of the Action Condensed family are three different grades, all of which, including the italic styles, have been drawn on precisely the same set of character widths. This allows for text to be switched between different grades without any reflowing of text.

Action Condensed Light
Action Condensed Regular
Action Condensed Medium
Action Condensed Bold

Graded Weights

The grades within each weight of Action Condensed allows for type to be switched between different grades or styles without changing the width of the text setting. This can be used for rollovers while maintaining typographic hierarchy.

Mapped Styles

Normally when multiple weights of a family are set within the same block of text, any changes require designers to dig in and switch each style individually. But because of the way that grades in Action Condensed are mapped, designers can set separate styles in the same block of text—like Light & Medium as shown here—and quickly toggle different grades via the type palette.

Not Just for Interfaces

Although Action Condensed was designed with the screen in mind, it works as well on a poster, a film title, or in an editorial layout as it does in a web browser or on a mobile phone. Its casual personality and quirky shapes give a friendliness that is unusual in a straight-sided condensed sans, and the grades can be used for interesting layered effects.

Wael Morcos has designed two new microsites for our Webfonts Showcase, to show Action Condensed in action. One highlights the relationship between the grades in each weight, while the other demonstrates how smoothly the grades work for rollovers while showing unexpected connections between networks of synonyms and antonyms.

WEB | 6 SEPTEMBER 2016

Minisite for Action Condensed

Earlier this year we released Erik van Blokland’s Action Condensed. 8 months later, we’re surprised to see that it is primarily being used in print so far. To help get inspiration flowing, we asked our friends at Project Projects to create an interface showing Action Condensed doing what it does best.
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RELEASES | 8 SEPTEMBER 2020

New release: Action Text by Erik van Blokland

Type made for screens needn’t lack personality. Action Text continues the reflections Dutch superstar Erik van Blokland embarked on with Action Condensed. Geared toward interfaces and continuous text onscreen, Action Text comes in a variable version with weight and grade axes, as well as a “flat” version in four weights accompanied by matching italics, with a Bright and Dark grade for each weight.
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