You can’t hurry a good typeface. All that sketching, drawing, honing, editing, balancing… Then there are the uppercase and italics to perfect, and different weights. Sometimes, it can take years. Few typefaces, though, would have been in gestation for quite as long as FS Siena, our new contrasted sans serif.

With its strong, upright stance, contrasting strokes and blend of generous, classical proportions with modern, economical lines, FS Siena is tailor-made for the kind of high-end brands for whom heritage and modernity go hand-in-hand. And like many of those brands in the worlds of fashion, cosmetics and hospitality, FS Siena is all the better for its extended evolution.

The typeface first saw the light of day some 25 years ago, when, at the tender age of 18, Fontsmith founder Jason Smith drew out the raw letterforms with a Rotring pen while still at art college. After his diploma show, the typeface was filed away on Jason’s computer. Until 18 months ago when he asked designer Krista Radoeva to finish it off.