As the nights draw in, misty mornings and fire-orange leaves remind us that the Northern Hemisphere is firmly in autumn’s grasp. What could be a more fitting typeface release to echo the shifts in nature than NaN’s Druid? A family that, by all accounts, embodies its namesake: “Druid by name, Druid in nature.” Crafted by Reymund Schröder and Anna Khorash and engineered and published with NaN Typefaces, it promises a unique blend of functionality, versatility, and – most importantly – mystical inspiration.
Not Just a Jenson
At its core, NaN Druid is about divine dualities: nature and nurture, the magical and the mysterious. These dualities echo the typeface’s development, with equal authorship from the project’s inception and a symbiotic design process between Khorash and Schröder, who treated the typeface as “a living, evolving entity.”
The journey began with Schröder’s longstanding fascination with Nicolas Jenson’s classic Renaissance-era roman typeface, Jenson, and Jenson-esque interpretations from the turn of the century. This interest, coupled with a desire to create something organic and analogue, lit the initial spark for what came to be NaN Druid. “As with Kleukens-Egyptienne,” he tells us, referring to his typeface, a restored unpublished typeface design by Friedrich Wilhelm Kleukens, “I wanted to pursue a solid, text-ready typeface between serif and slab,” infused with a graphic determination and crystalline sharpness that he likens to “a blinking elixir from a secret laboratory.”
And so the name arrived naturally: NaN Druid, referencing the mystical and ancient wisdom associated with druids, alchemists, and their potent elixirs, while also encapsulating the typeface’s blend of historical inspiration and modern, almost magical, precision.
The Process: A duet, a harmony, a dance
Following an invitation from Schröder, Khorash joined the project to enhance and complete his initial vision, “seeking a way to enhance and complete it that felt organic and profound.” Together, they faced the challenge of creating a dual family that could express individuality while maintaining harmony. After considering a few options – Roman and italic, text and display – they opted to create both sans-serif and serif families, “where each part could express itself freely, without strict connotations, but still with mutual interest and respect.”
NaN Druid incorporates features from both antique (old-style) serifs and newer slab serifs. Both designers drew inspiration from historical sources but quickly moved beyond mere interpretation. Schröder aimed for a timeless quality, eschewing overly contemporary twists in favour of a solid, enduring design. As there is no Jenson sans-serif, Khorash explored early humanist sans-serifs like Johnston and Gill, “along with a personal approach to adapting Jenson’s proportions to sans-serif form,” before focusing on achieving perfect harmony with the serif counterpart.
Rather than simply cutting off serifs to create the sans-serif version, they focused on defining the overall nature and rhythm of the family, allowing the two styles to “dance” together. “For me,” says Khorash, “the exploration of this dual family naturally initially felt like a dance—an intuitive, spontaneous decision that led to something greater than the sum of its parts.”
A Pair of Druids: Druid and Druid Sans
The result is a typeface that defies strict categorisation. NaN Druid is neither purely text nor display, embracing an in-between nature that reflects its mystical namesake. Two distinct yet harmonious styles, NaN Druid and Druid Sans, share matching proportions and weights but feature their own personalities and stroke contrasts.
The serif version, NaN Druid, with lower contrast and distinctive angled serifs, provides excellent readability for body text. While it adopts the serif’s humanistic structure, Druid Sans features higher contrast and very open counters. “Druid Serif naturally exhibited more elegance and expression in its details,” says Khorash, “so we designed Druid Sans to complement it—less pronounced in character, but with its own elegance and organic nature reflected in the rounded shapes and connections between elements.”
Interestingly, the two styles found their strengths in different sizes. Druid Sans works better at larger sizes, “so we allowed it to take that position, tightening its spacing,” while the serif shines in smaller text applications.
When asked about favourite details, Khorash highlights the letter ‘a’ in both subfamilies: “The sans-serif ‘a’ is smooth, with high contrast and more weight in the upper part, while the serif ‘a’ feels more grounded, with a robust, balanced presence. Despite these differences, both share a harmonious consistency in proportions and whitespace distribution.”
Reflecting on the project, Schröder describes the design process as “a meditation on consistency,” which was simultaneously tiring but also “desirable for tight chords,” where all elements work seamlessly together. “In a somewhat abstruse way,” he says, “this is shown in the combination of Q and J—almost like a signal-coloured DNA.”
Uses and Applications: From the pages of tomes to the surface of stones
From a delicate monolinear thin to a robust black, the family includes eight weights. And for those seeking additional customisation, Druid comes with a stylistic set featuring simpler top serifs. The typeface’s dual nature combines clarity and character, making it ideal for projects blending tradition and modernity.
Schröder sees NaN Druid being used in a variety of contexts, “programs, catalogues, editorial, but also in corporate identity,” and looks forward to seeing the typeface in larger applications, where its sculptural qualities can truly shine. “I envision both aspects of the Druid family working in concert, each enhancing the other and creating a deeper narrative than either could alone,” says Khorash. “Druid exists in the shadow space between—between text and display, elegance and rawness, magic and reason.”
From branding and editorial design to text-heavy documents craving a dash of character, it steps up to the plate, infusing designs with a subtle yet unmistakable flair that elevates the overall aesthetic. “I can easily see Druid Serif nestled within the pages of a book, its presence felt both natural and inviting. Personally, I would love to see it manifest in tangible forms, perhaps carved in wood or stone,” she concludes.
For further information, including language support and licensing, visit NaN.xyz. To keep up-to-date with new releases, follow NaN on Instagram. For commission inquiries, please contact Reymund Schröder and Anna Khorash, who are currently available for new projects.
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