Scala Sans Free Download [UPDATED]
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FF Scala Sans is a humanist sans-serif typeface designed by Dutch designer Martin Majoor in 1993 for the Vredenburg Music Center in Utrecht, the Netherlands. It was designed as a companion to Majoor's earlier serif old style typeface FF Scala, designed in 1990.
Other faces from roughly the same category (neo-humanist sans) that are available at no charge include Lucida Sans, Adobe's Frutiger clone Myriad, their recent Source Sans (not really humanist though). And why not check out Microsoft's recent system fonts as well? They include Microsoft's own Frutiger clone Segoe, Corbel, and Candara, a proper neo-humanist sans with a decent italic.
Scala and Scala Sans are two different typefaces sharing a common form principle. The character of a seriffed typeface mainly arises from the form principle and from elements such as serifs and contrast of the strokes. A sans serif design depends almost entirely on the form principle. Scala Sans was made simply by cutting the serifs off from the characters of Scala and by adjusting their contrast. So the skeletons of both Scala and Scala Sans are identical.
Scala Sans is directly based on Scala, simply by cutting off the serifs and by lowering the contrast. Using black marker and white paint is all it takes to create a sans serif typeface from a seriffed one.
Also the italic of Scala Sans is based on the seriffed form: so it is a real italic, not a sloped roman. This means not only that its slope is different to that of the roman, but that its form principle is clearly different too, unlike in most sans serifs today.
To add different condensed versions to sans serif designs is much more common than it is with seriffed typefaces. Scala Sans comes with a Regular Condensed and a Bold Condensed. Scala Sans Regular Condensed is perfect for use in captions or as a text face in narrow newspaper columns. Of course it can also be used for headings. Scala Sans Bold Condensed is both a display face and a text face.
The font was designed with the concept that the new digital design technologies would open up novel possibilities for font design. This first version was released by FontShop International as their very first serious font and was soon followed up in 1993 by FF Scala Sans to give designers a sans font in companion to the original FF Scala font.
The FF Scala family includes Regular, Italic, Bold, Bold-Italic, Condensed, Bold-Condensed. The FF Scala Sans family includes Regular, Italic, Bold, Bold-Italic, Condensed, Bold-Condensed, Light, Light-Italic, Black, Black-Italic, Scala Hands. FF Scala Sans is the first ever sans serif font with italic small caps.
Proxima Nova, designed by Mark Simonson, is named for its close proximity to grotesque (ie. News Gothic,) geometric sans (ie. Futura) and neo-grotesque (ie. Helvetica.) It shares the construction, details and stroke constrast of these categories, respectively. Proxima also takes inspiration from the Federal Highway fonts, and the fact that it was designed (and redesigned, hence the Nova addition) over the course of 27 years gives Proxima Nova an American vernacular quality that is reminiscent of Gotham, only more refined.
Xtra sans, by Jarno Lukkarila. This font combines the sturdiness and compactness of a grotesk (the same category that I mentioned before) with strong broad-nib pen strokes. Use Xtra sans if you want to convey a classical yet contemporary quality to your design. At smaller sizes, the generous counterspace makes this font readable. At bigger sizes, its calligraphic details gives it enough character to stand on its own.
Fresco sans, by Fred Smeijers. This family, like Scala sans, was designed to be used alongside their serif counterparts (Fresco and Scala, respectively,) and can be more versatile than sans fonts that are designed by itself. Using the sans and serif font side by side guarantees headline and body type that aligns well with each other, and can greatly reduce your font matching headache.
Fedra sans, by Typotheque. Fedra sans is one part of a superfamily of fonts that include not only a serif family with lower and higher contrast (for low-resolution and high-resolution printing, respectively), but also a sans display and serif display version (for use in larger sizes,) Arabic, monospace and phonetic. Use Fedra sans when your design requires a varying application of font, from the biggest navigational signage to that footnote in the annual report.
Purista, by Suitcase Type Foundry, is yet another approach to this category. It takes the literal definition of a proper square sans (like Eurostile) and gives this model even more geometric quality, as well as weight levels, to make it versatile.
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