Leaf & Spine

Typeface · Display

Umbra

Umbra is a sans-serif display typeface designed in 1935 by R. Hunter Middleton for the Ludlow Typograph company.

About Umbra

Umbra is a sans-serif display typeface designed in 1935 by R. Hunter Middleton for the Ludlow Typograph company. It is an adaptation of the uppercase light weight of his earlier typeface Tempo. The name Umbra refers to its shadow effect, in which the actual letter shape consists of negative space and is defined solely by its black dimensional shadow. Several other typefaces were created in similar style around the same time, including shadowed weights of Gill Sans. Nebiolo's Ombra, part of their Semplicità family, is very similar. Umbra has been digitised.

From the Wikipedia article “Umbra (typeface)”, licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0.

Using Umbra in a book

Display typefaces are designed for large sizes — covers, chapter titles, posters. Pair them with a quiet text face for the body.

Commercial typefaces require a licence that covers embedding in PDFs and ebooks; check the foundry's licence before you publish.

Sources & data

More display typefaces

Impact 1963 San Francisco 2014 Clarendon 1845 Arnold Böcklin 1904 Microgramma 1952 Hobo 1910 Broadway 1928 Balloon 1939

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