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Modernists in the 1920s waged a “fight against capital letters,” writing all their messages strictly in lowercase characters. In the ’70s, the search for an “egalitarian” type treatment continued, leading designers to the short-lived concept of unicase.

Today, we're releasing ABC Pelikan by throwing our very own same height party. You’re invited. Height = the same, vibe = insane.

VIBE

In its default form, Pelikan is a low-contrast Neo-grotesque that’s both raw and approachable with an unpolished, blunt feel. Its unusually large x-height gives it a confident stance and presence.

Pelikan has two unicase features available via Stylistic Sets, letting you jump between the default look and our same height variations. The unicase versions are playful, wild, and dynamic. I like to think of them as Kurt Schwitters-meets-ransom-note.

STYLES & FAMILIES

Pelikan is available in Condensed, Normal, and Expanded widths, plus eight weights from Thin to Black. As a variable font, you can explore the entire width and weight range. A brutal slant is also available for each style.

UNICASE FEATURE

Pelikan has two unicase settings. Unicase 1 is uppercase heavy, with only a few lowercase letterforms sprinkled in. This setting feels solid and sturdy in text blocks. Unicase 2, on the other hand, is jumbled and playful, a happy mismatch of uppercase and lowercase forms of the same height.

I like to imagine how the default Pelikan and unicase Pelikans could pair together for branding projects.

TRIANGULAR DOTS

If you want to add a dash more personality to this workhorse, triangular dots are also available as an alternate to Pelikan’s otherwise boxy dots. These flourishes feel iconic to me, especially when paired with the mono slab i alternate.

KEY CHARACTERS

There are a few particular characters that give Pelikan its authentic flair. I’m particularly fond of the lowercase f, with its elongated crossbar and tubular hood. The numbers also feature special quirks, like the overhanging roof of the 5.

BTS

Masterminded by Berlin’s finest design gang Veryes, Pelikan’s campaign plays homage to artist Hans Hemmert’s Level (1997), an artwork originally produced for the Personal Absurdies show at Galerie Gebauer in Berlin. For the event, Hemmert hosted a party where guests wore blue shoe-extenders to bring them all to the same two-metre height. The idea was to literally put everyone on eye level.

Fast forward to 2024: Simone Cihlar, Tim Lindacher, Moritz Lösel, Jannis Maroscheck, and Johannes Schreiner at Veryes built, spray-painted, velcroed all of the platforms you see here in their Kreuzberg Hinterhof—and then photographed and styled the shoot. Thank you to our Berlin-based models: Jessica Hauff, Benni Kakert, kkoki, Sean Brown, Kean Farrar. Hair and make-up by Lili Zawierucha.

Pelikan was designed by our own Fabiola Mejía and Fabian Harb.

That’s all for today. We can’t wait to see what you do with the font.

Love,
Dinamo x