The Letters

Fiction

Fiction Hairline

Fiction Hairline Oblique

Fiction Thin

Fiction Thin Oblique

Fiction Extra Light

Fiction Extra Light Oblique

Fiction Light

Fiction Light Oblique

Fiction Regular

Fiction Regular Oblique

Fiction Medium

Fiction Medium Oblique

Fiction Bold

Fiction Bold Oblique

Fiction Extra Bold

Fiction Extra Bold Oblique

Trial

Buy

Black Sabbath

The Saints

Buzzcocks

Jasná Páka

The Slits

Shonen Knife

Sonic Youth

Hüsker Dü

Well I feel pretty good; And I guess that I could get crazy, now baby; 'Cause we all got in tune; And when the dressing room got hazy, now baby; MC5, Kick Out the Jams, 1968

So messed up, I want you here; In my room, I want you here; Now we're gonna be face-to-face; And I'll lay right down in my favorite place; The Stooges, I Wanna Be Your Dog, 1969

The boy was in the hallway drinking a glass of tea; From the other end of the hallway a rhythm was generating; Patti Smith, Land: Horses / Land of a Thousand Dances / La Mer(de), 1975

They're forming in straight line; They're going through a tight wind; The kids are losing their minds; The blitzkrieg bop; Ramones, Blitzkrieg Bop, 1976

Can't stay at home, can't stay in school; Old folks say, "You poor little fool”; Down the streets I'm the girl next door; I’m the fox you've been waiting for; The Runaways, Cherry Bomb, 1976

Like a snake calling on the phone; I've got no time to be alone; There is someone coming at me all the time; Yeah babe I think I'll lose my mind; The Saints, (I'm) Stranded, 1977

You spurn my natural emotions; You make me feel like dirt and I'm hurt; And if I start a commotion; I run the risk of losing you and that's worse; Ever Fallen in Love; Buzzcocks, 1978

London calling to the faraway towns; Now war is declared, and battle come down; London calling to the underworld; Come outta the cupboard, ya boys and girls; The Clash, London Calling, 1979

Punk ideologies are a group of varied social and political beliefs associated with punk subculture and punk rock. In its original incarnation, punk subculture originated out of working class angst and the frustrations many youth were feeling about economic inequality and the bourgeois hypocrisy and neglect of working people and their struggles. It was primarily concerned with concepts such as mutual aid, against selling out, egalitarianism, humanitarianism, anti-authoritarianism, anti-consumerism, anti-corporatism, anti-war, decolonisation, anti-conservatism, anti-globalisation, anti-gentrification, gender equality, racial equality, civil rights, animal rights, disability rights, free-thought and non-conformity. One of its main tenets was a rejection of corporate mass culture and its values. It continued to evolve its ideology as the movement spread from its origins in England and New York and embrace a range of anti-racist and anti-sexist belief systems. Punk ideologies are often left-wing and go against right-wing authoritarian ideology.

Punk ideologies are usually expressed through punk rock music, punk literature such as amateur fanzines, spoken word performances or recordings, punk fashion, or punk visual art. Some punks have participated in direct action, such as demonstration disruption, political violence, ecotage, street barricades, squatting, pirate radio, off-grid energy, graffiti, vandalism and public and business property destruction. Indirect action through counter-propaganda, protests or boycotts. They support and squat in urban and rural collective houses with held group funds in common. Punk fashion was originally an expression of nonconformity, as well as opposition to both mainstream culture and the status quo. Punk fashion often displays aggression, rebellion, and individualism. Some punks wear accessories, clothing or have tattoos that express sociopolitical messages. They stage punk rock food drives such as D.O.A’s ‘Unity for Freedom’. Punk visual art also often includes political messages. Many punks wear second-hand clothing, partly as an anti-consumerist statement. An attitude common in the punk subculture is the opposition to selling out, which refers to abandoning of one’s values and/or a change in musical style toward pop (e.g. electropop) and embracing anything in mainstream capitalist culture or more radio-friendly rock (e.g. pop rock) in exchange for wealth, status, or power. Selling out also has the meaning of adopting a more mainstream lifestyle and ideology.

The issue of authenticity is important in the punk subculture—the pejorative term ‘poseur’ is applied to those who try to associate with punk and adopt its stylistic attributes but are deemed not to share or understand the underlying core values or philosophy. Because anti-establishment attitudes are such an important part of the punk subculture, a network of independent record labels, venues and distributors has developed. Some punk bands have chosen to break from this independent system and work within the established system of major labels. The do it yourself (DIY) ideal is common in the punk scene, especially in terms of music recording and distribution, concert promotion, and photocopying magazines, posters and flyers. The expression DIY was coined by commentators after the fact. On religious issues, punk is mostly atheist or skeptic, but some punk bands are theist and have promoted religions or spirituality such as Christianity, Islam, Umbanda, the Rastafari movement, Neo-Paganism, Buddhism, Vedanta or Krishna. There is a complex and worldwide underground of punks committed to anarchism as a serious political ideology, sometimes termed “peace punks” or “anarcho-punks”.

While some well-known punk bands such as Sex Pistols and The Exploited had songs about anarchy, notably the Sex Pistols’ ‘Anarchy in the UK’, they did not embrace anarchism as a disciplined ideology. As such, these bands are not considered part of the anarcho-punk scene. Anarcho-punks typically believe in direct action. Many anarcho-punks are pacifists (e.g. Crass and Discharge) and therefore believe in using non-violent means of achieving their aims. These include peaceful protest, squatting, legal graffiti, culture jamming, ecotage, freeganism, boycotting, civil disobedience, hacktivism and subvertising. Some anarcho-punks believe that violence or property damage is an acceptable way of achieving social change (e.g. Conflict). This manifests itself as rioting, illegal graffiti, vandalism, wire cutting, hunt sabotage, participation in class war-style activities, melee weapons and in extreme cases, bombings. Notable anarchist punk artists include: Aus-Rotten, Dave Insurgent, Crass, Subhumans (British band), Colin Jerwood, and Dave Dictor.

In the 1980s, both straight edge hardcore punk in the United States and anarcho-punk in the United Kingdom became associated with animal rights. Consequently, vegetarianism and veganism became a feature of the punk subculture. This association continues on into the 21st century, as evidenced by the prominence of vegan punk events such as Fluff Fest in Europe. Some punks claim to be non-political, such as the band Charged GBH and the singer G.G. Allin, although some socio-political ideas have appeared in their lyrics. Some Charged GBH songs have discussed social issues, and a few have expressed anti-war views. G.G. Allin expressed a vague desire to kill the United States president and destroy the political system in his song ‘Violence Now’. Punk subgenres that are generally apolitical include: glam punk, psychobilly, horror punk, punk pathetique, deathrock and pop punk.

Many of the bands credited with starting the punk movement were decidedly apolitical, including The Dictators, Ramones (which featured staunch conservative Johnny Ramone alongside liberal activist Joey Ramone), New York Dolls, Television, Johnny Thunders & The Heartbreakers and Richard Hell & The Voidoids. Christian punk is a subgenre of punk rock with some degree of Christian lyrical content. Some Christian punk bands are associated with the Christian music industry, while others reject that association. Ideologies within Christian punk vary, though a number of bands lean towards traditional left-wing politics, most prominently Crashdog, Ballydowse and The Psalters, the latter two of whom identified as Christian anarchists. Further examples of notable Christian punk bands include Altar Boys, The Crucified, Five Iron Frenzy, Flatfoot 56, and pop-punk band MxPx, who earned a gold record in 1998. A small number are conservative, rejecting leftist-anarchism, liberalism, communism and socialism in favor of conservatism.

Notable conservative punks include Johnny Ramone, Dee Dee Ramone, Forgotten Rebels, Billy Zoom, Joe Escalante, Bobby Steele, Duane Peters and Dave Smalley. Some Christian punk and hardcore bands have conservative political stances, in particular some of the NYHC bands, and Glenn Danzig. Riot grrrl is an underground feminist punk movement that began during the early 1990s within the United States in Olympia, Washington and the greater Pacific Northwest. Riot grrrl is a subcultural movement that combines feminism, punk music and politics. It is often associated with third-wave feminism, which is sometimes seen as having grown out of the riot grrrl movement, and has recently been seen in current fourth-wave feminist punk music. Riot grrrl bands often address issues such as rape, domestic abuse, sexuality, racism, patriarchy, classism, anarchism and female empowerment. Primary bands associated with the movement include Bikini Kill, Bratmobile, Heavens to Betsy, Excuse 17, Huggy Bear, Skinned Teen, Emily’s Sassy Lime and Sleater-Kinney, as well as queercore groups such as Team Dresch and The Third Sex.

Styles

Fiction Hairline

Fiction Hairline Oblique

Fiction Thin

Fiction Thin Oblique

Fiction Extra Light

Fiction Extra Light Oblique

Fiction Light

Fiction Light Oblique

Fiction Regular

Fiction Regular Oblique

Fiction Medium

Fiction Medium Oblique

Fiction Bold

Fiction Bold Oblique

Fiction Extra Bold

Fiction Extra Bold Oblique

OpenType features

Language (English)

Language (Română)

Default figures

Tabular Lining figures activated

Glyphs

Basic character set

ABCDEFGHIJKLMNOPQRSTUVWXYZabcdefghijklmnopqrstuvwxyz

Accented characters and language options

ÀÁÂÃÄĀĂÅǺĄẠÆǼĆČĊÇĎÈÉÊẼËĒĔĚĖẸĘĞǦĠĢĤĦÌÍÎĨÏĪĬİĮỊĲĴ\uE000 ĶĹĽĻĿŁŃŇÑŅŊƝÒÓÔÕÖŌŎŐỌØǾŒŔŘŖŚŠŚŜŞȘŤŢȚŦÙÚÛŨÜŪŬŮŰỤŲẀẂŴẄỲÝŶỸŸȲŹŽŻẞƏÞàáâäāăãåǻąạæǽćčċçďđèéêěẽëēĕėęẹǧğġģħıìíîĩïīĭịįĳȷĵ\uE001ĸķĺļľŀłńňñņŋɲòóôõöōŏőọøǿœŕřŗśŝšşșţțťŧùúûũüūŭűůụųẁẃŵẅỳýŷỹÿȳźžżßəþð

Language accents

` ´ ˆ ˇ ˘¯ ˙ ¨ ˝ ˚ ˜\u0312 ˛ ¸\u0326

Standard figures

0123456789

Tabular figures

0123456789

Symbols and punctuation

Information

About Fiction

Originally designed for the Ficciones Typografika: 1642 publication, Fiction is just that: a fiction, a distortion, an imposter. Mark Gowing originated the concept to automate a new typeface from the bones of three beloved classics. As a result, Fiction is essentially generative. That is to say, no letters have been manually drawn, spaced or kerned in the making of these fonts. Born out of a punk ethos, Fiction was created as both a homage, and a challenge, to the established sans-serif status quo. It is a response to the recent proliferation of neutral sans-serifs, along with the desire for the type to be simply more conceptually neutral than anything previously existing.

In order for Gowing to execute his concept, the basis of the typeface was created by interpolating the averaged centre line of the three mainstays of modernist sans-serif type: Akzidenz-Grotesk (Hermann Berthold, 1898), Helvetica (Max Miedinger, 1957) and Univers (Adrian Frutiger, 1957). The resulting centre line was then used as the spine of each glyph, with varying stroke widths applied to create the desired type weights. The proportions of these three type titans provided a skeleton onto which a new flesh was grown.

Despite Gowing’s conceptual intentions toward neutrality, Fiction emerges with character. The letterforms stand uncorrected, without the presence of any optical enhancements. However it is this lack of correction that creates Fiction’s own unique character, while its origins provide an uncanny familiarity.

Release

2021

Design

Mark Gowing

Mastering

Ben Kiel

Features

Sixteen styles
Tabular figures

Language support

Abenaki, Afaan Oromo, Afar, Afrikaans, Albanian, Alsatian, Amis, Anuta, Aragonese, Aranese, Aromanian, Arrernte, Arvanitic (Latin), Asturian, Atayal, Aymara, Azerbaijani, Bashkir (Latin), Basque, Belarusian (Latin), Bemba, Bikol, Bislama, Bosnian, Breton, Cape Verdean Creole, Catalan, Cebuano, Chamorro, Chavacano, Chichewa, Chickasaw, Cimbrian, Cofán, Cornish, Corsican, Creek, Crimean Tatar (Latin), Croatian, Czech, Danish, Dawan, Delaware, Dholuo, Drehu, Dutch, English, Estonian, Faroese, Fijian, Filipino, Finnish, Folkspraak, French, Frisian, Friulian, Gagauz (Latin), Galician, Ganda, Genoese, German, Gikuyu, Gooniyandi, Greenlandic (Kalaallisut), Guadeloupean Creole, Gwich’in, Haitian Creole, Hän, Hawaiian, Hiligaynon, Hopi, Hotcąk (Latin), Hungarian, Icelandic, Ido, Igbo, Ilocano, Indonesian, Interglossa, Interlingua, Irish, Istro-Romanian, Italian, Jamaican, Javanese (Latin), Jèrriais, Kaingang, Kala Lagaw Ya, Kapampangan (Latin), Kaqchikel, Karakalpak (Latin), Karelian (Latin), Kashubian, Kikongo, Kinyarwanda, Kiribati, Kirundi, Klingon, Kurdish (Latin), Ladin, Latin, Latino sine Flexione, Latvian, Lithuanian, Lojban, Lombard, Low Saxon, Luxembourgish, Maasai, Makhuwa, Malay, Maltese, Manx, Māori, Marquesan, Megleno-Romanian, Meriam Mir, Mirandese, Mohawk, Moldovan, Montagnais, Montenegrin, Murrinh-Patha, Nagamese Creole, Nahuatl, Ndebele, Neapolitan, Ngiyambaa, Niuean, Noongar, Norwegian, Novial, Occidental, Occitan, Onĕipŏt, Oshiwambo, Ossetian (Latin), Palauan, Papiamento, Piedmontese, Polish, Portuguese, Potawatomi, Q’eqchi’, Quechua, Rarotongan, Romanian, Romansh, Rotokas, Sami (Inari Sami), Sami (Lule Sami), Sami (Northern Sami), Sami (Southern Sami), Samoan, Sango, Saramaccan, Sardinian, Scottish Gaelic, Serbian (Latin), Seri, Seychellois Creole, Shawnee, Shona, Sicilian, Silesian, Slovak, Slovenian, Slovio (Latin), Somali, Sorbian (Lower Sorbian), Sorbian (Upper Sorbian), Sotho (Northern), Sotho (Southern), Spanish, Sranan, Sundanese (Latin), Swahili, Swazi, Swedish, Tagalog, Tahitian, Tetum, Tok Pisin, Tokelauan, Tongan, Tshiluba, Tsonga, Tswana, Tumbuka, Turkish, Turkmen (Latin), Tuvaluan, Tzotzil, Uzbek (Latin), Venetian, Vepsian, Volapük, Võro, Wallisian, Walloon, Waray-Waray, Warlpiri, Wayuu, Welsh, Wik-Mungkan, Wiradjuri, Wolof, Xavante, Xhosa, Yapese, Yindjibarndi, Zapotec, Zarma, Zazaki, Zulu, Zuni

Usage notes

We are committed to the highest levels of font production. Fiction has been professionally engineered to work seamlessly across all platforms and to perform exceptionally in print and on screen. The OpenType fonts contain a multitude of convenient features, such as alternate figure sets and broad Latin-based language support to enhance your requirements.

The sixteen style Fiction family consists of a broad range of weights that vary progressively in their aesthetic, due to the arbitrary nature of the applied strokes. The stroke-based drawing technique creates a variety of character heights that are aligned on the centre of each stroke, rather than the baseline, x-height and cap-height. This creates unorthodox and unique typographic outcomes that will vary in subtlety depending on the chosen type weight and size.

At text sizes Fiction feels familiarly utilitarian and sets in very much the same way as its contemporaries – it is reliable and legible in most situations. The Hairline and Thin weights may be too fine to be used at small sizes, but work exceptionally well at headline and display sizes. At these larger sizes the type comes alive and exhibits its idiosyncratic character. The Extra Bold is the most exaggerated in its form and is particularly varied in the character heights, but it has a playful wiggle that is also excellent for headlines.

Overall the punk feel of Fiction can be used to create a unique typographic tone that honours and recycles our cultural heritage.

Fonts in use