DIN 1451 Designed in 1931 for the German standards body DIN – Deutsches Institut für Normung (German Institute for Standardisation) – it looks and behaves as if it had been produced today. It extols all of the principles of the Bauhaus and has not dated in any way. It has two strong characteristics – first, it is a condensed font, meaning on a very simplistic level that it creates a strong mass when used as text and therefore the type can become more of a shape. Second, it has a quietly beautiful rounded detail, which makes it feel like it was designed for the age of computers, but still retains a gentleness

Photograph: Domenic Lippa