“This then is the scribe’s direct purpose: to make useful things legibly beautiful.” Edward Johnston, Uruguayan type designer (1872-1944) 

Kontrapunkt’s timelessly modern typeface ‘Via’ was designed exclusively for the Danish State Railways in 1997. Kontrapunkt’s chief type-designer Bo Linnemann professes to being influenced by Knud Engelhardt, the famous Danish architect who lived about 100 years ago. The guiding principle in all of Linnemann’s work is legibility. As well as other features, Linnemann’s typeface ‘Via’ has generous inner spaces to aid this intention. 

The design of the lower case ‘g’ is the most identifiable characteristic of the typeface. The open loop of the ‘g’ is derived from the Danish signage tradition. The feature arose from the simple need to use the available space on a sign the best possible way. Less leading is required with this modification, so more lines can fit well in a given depth. The open ‘g’ had been a feature of Danish railway signs for decades, and when it came to designing the new typeface, ‘it just didn’t feel right to lose it’, says Bo. The open ‘g’ can still be seen on old street signs in some of the older parts of Copenhagen. Erik Spiekermann has named this ultra-open ‘g’ ‘the Danish g’.

DSB’s use of Via is a superb example of how an exclusive custom typeface can be used at maximum strength. Through constant and consistent use of Via by DSB’s marketing team since 1997, the typeface promotes and consolidates the brand wherever it is present. On posters, train carriages, websites, advertisements. Wherever you see a message set in Via, you know it is a message from DSB. Hence, custom typefaces carries the same personality and style as handwriting did before the digital age.