ITC New Veljović – A First Design Re-envisioned

Although a seasoned master of the craft for over three decades, Jovica Veljović didn’t intend to be a type designer. Calligraphy and handlettering were his passion as a young man – and his work earned many prestigious awards.

It was Aaron Burns, eminent typographer and founder of ITC that introduced Veljović to typeface design in the spring of 1981. Like many young lettering artists of the time, Veljović dreamed of working in Herb Lubalin’s studio in New York. But, on top of having no money and not knowing anyone in the city, he lived in Serbia. It was an introduction from his teacher, the great Israeli typographer Henri Friedlaender, and the generosity of Burns, who paid for Veljović’s trip that made a meeting with Lubalin possible.

The meeting went well and it was clear that Lubalin wanted to hire Veljović, but this was not to be. Lubalin was losing his battle with cancer. “It was obvious that my dream of working for Lubalin would soon be over,” recalls Veljović.

Back in ITC’s offices, Burns and Veljović talked about the young designer’s future. “Aaron suggested that I go back to Belgrade and try to design a typeface for ITC,” Veljović reminiscences. ”I will never forget the pile of specimen books, old and new, lying on Mr. Burns desk during our conversation. And I wondered ‘How can I design a new typeface when so many are already existing in these books? Where can I fit in?’ I was scared and determined at the same time. And I did not want to disappoint Aaron. I sensed that he trusted me.”

Veljović returned home and began to teach himself how to design a typeface. He submitted his first to ITC the following year and it was released in 1984, bearing his name.

Now, over 30 years later, Veljović has upgraded and re-envisioned his first typeface. “I knew I could improve the overall design,” explains Veljović, and I thought that the typeface that bears my name deserved the enhancements.”

The result is the ITC New Veljović® family. ITC New Veljović has better character proportions,” explains Veljović. “I also drew smoother curves – especially in the bolder weights – shorter and better balanced serifs, improved spacing and an extended kerning set,”

In addition, bowls were drawn fuller and characters narrowed slightly in the pursuit of text legibility and space economy. While the italic characters in the ITC New Veljović design are more refined and a closer complement to the roman designs than the original, a sensitive calligraphic vitality is maintained.

Veljović also enlarged the family from its original four weights with complementary italics to five weights. He drew 10 roman and italic designs of regular proportions for setting of text content, 10 condensed designs for text use, and 10 designs developed expressly for larger (display) applications. These 30 new typefaces make ITC New Veljović a remarkably versatile family

The ITC New Veljović family is available for desktop licensing on Fonts.com, as well as Web fonts through all Fonts.com Web Fonts paid subscription plans. In addition, the complete ITC New Veljović family is available as both Web fonts and desktop fonts through Fonts.com Professional and Master subscription plans too.

Learn more about the ITC New Veljović family now!