The Commerce typeface family originated from a series of logotypes created for a retail brand. Its design draws inspiration from early twentieth-century American gothics while introducing a warmer, more approachable character.
Many of Commerce’s distinctive features reinterpret historical models. The bowls and arches of the lowercase letters begin with a subtle angular transition rather than a continuous curve, giving the design a characteristic rhythm. Its two-storey g follows the tradition of classic grotesques such as Franklin Gothic and News Gothic, while details borrowed from humanist sans-serifs – such as the spurless b and q and the open terminals of a, c, e, and s – add clarity and friendliness.
Commerce maintains a subtle but distinctive contrast between vertical and horizontal strokes throughout the family. In the heavier weights, this contrast becomes more pronounced in characters such as a, e, g, 4, and 5. This refinement prevents the glyphs from appearing overly dark while contributing to the family’s recognizable texture.
The Commerce collection consists of three complementary designs: Commerce (Sans), Commerce-Script, and Commerce-Serif. Although each has its own personality, they are designed to work together seamlessly.
Commerce and Commerce-Script are available in Condensed, SemiCondensed, and normal widths. Commerce-Serif is designed to match the SemiCondensed proportions of the family. Every style includes true italics with distinctive letterforms rather than mechanically slanted romans.
The combination of multiple widths and a tall x-height ensures excellent legibility at small sizes while making economical use of space. With eight weights, the family offers a broad range of typographic expression, from delicate text settings to bold display applications. The italic angle gradually decreases across the weight range, from approximately 12° in Thin to about 5° in ExtraBold, creating a balanced visual progression. Commerce-Script is derived from the italic designs, introducing new letterforms and stroke endings that give it a more fluid, handwritten character.
Commerce-Serif builds on the proportions of Commerce while taking inspiration from historical transitional typefaces. Its expressive terminals and lively serifs provide warmth and contrast without sacrificing compatibility with the rest of the family.
All Commerce fonts include a comprehensive set of OpenType features, including oldstyle figures, tabular figures, and other typographic refinements. Kerning pairs ensure balanced typesetting throughout. The family is also available as variable fonts, covering the full design space of its 88 individual styles, and supports hundreds of languages.
caseCase-sensitive FormsdnomDenominatorsfracFractionshistHistorical FormslnumLining FiguresnumrNumeratorsonumOldstyle FiguresordnOrdinalspnumProportional FiguressaltStylistic AlternatessinfScientific Inferiorsss01Stylistic Set 1ss02Stylistic Set 2ss03Stylistic Set 3subsSubscriptsupsSuperscripttnumTabular FigureszeroSlashed Zero
Abua, Acoli, Cheyenne, Finnish, Galician, Gawwada, Hanga, Igbo, Kabuverdianu, Lakota, Lithuanian, Luo, Malagasy, Nupe-Nupe-Tako, Punu, Tedaga, Tsamai, Wendat, –––, Achinese, Afar, Afrikaans, Ahtna, Alago, Albanian, Alekano, Aleut, Anaang, Ao, Naga, Arabic, Chadian, Spoken, Aragonese, Aromanian, Asturian, Asu, Awak, Aymara, Azerbaijani, Balinese, Banda, West, Central, Bangwinji, Bapuku, Bari, Basque, Batak, Toba, Bedawiyet, Bekwarra, Bemba, Bena, Bench, Benga, Biali, Bikol, Bilen, Bini, Bislama, Bokobaru, Bosnian, Breton, Bube, Buginese, C’Lela, Catalan, Cebuano, Chamorro, Chiduruma, Chiga, Chimborazo, Highland, Quichua, Chokwe, Chuukese, Colognian, Comorian, Ngazidja, Cornish, Corsican, Crioulo, Upper, Guinea, Croatian, Czech, Danish, Dawro, Delaware, Dikaka, Efik, Ekajuk, Embu, English, Esperanto, Estonian, Ezaa, Faroese, Fijian, Filipino, French, Friulian, Fuliiru, Gagauz, Gamo, Ganda, Gbaya, Sudan, German, Gheg, Albanian, Gilbertese, Gofa, Gokana, Gourmanchéma, Gusii, Gwichʼin, Gyele, Hadiyya, Haitian, Creole, Harari, Hawaiian, Hiligaynon, Hmong, Hopi, Hungarian, Ibani, Icelandic, Igede, Ika, Ikwo, Iloko, Inari, Sami, Indonesian, Innu, Interlingua, Iraqw, Irish, Italian, Ivbie, North-Okpela-Arhe, Izere, Izii, Jamaican, Creole, English, Javanese, Jibu, Jola-Fonyi, Jukun, Takum, Kaingang, Kalaallisut, Kalanga, Kalenjin, Kamba, Kaonde, Karelian, Kashubian, Khasi, Kikuyu, Kimbundu, Kinyarwanda, Kirike, Kirmanjki, Kituba, Kombe, Kongo, Konjo, Koyra, Chiini, Koyraboro, Senni, Kuanyama, Kunama, Kurdish, (Latin), Kuria, Kutep, Kutu, Kwere, Kʼicheʼ, Lamba, Lamnso’, Lango, Uganda, Latgalian, Latin, Latvian, Lele, Ligurian, Lokaa, Lombard, Lomwe, Low, German, Lower, Sorbian, Lozi, Luba-Lulua, Luguru, Lule, Sami, Lunda, Luvale, Luwo, Luxembourgish, Luyia, Machame, Madurese, Makhuwa, Makhuwa-Meetto, Makonde, Malay, (Latin), Maltese, Mam, Mambila, Nigeria, Mandinka, Mandjak, Mankanya, Manx, Manyika, Maori, Mapuche, Masaaba, Meru, Minangkabau, Mirandese, Mohawk, Morisyen, Muscogee, Muslim, Tat, Latin, Mwani, Nara, Ndamba, Ndau, Ndonga, Neapolitan, Ngindo, Ngulu, Niuean, North, Ndebele, Northern, Sami, Northern, Sotho, Norwegian, Norwegian, Bokmål, Norwegian, Nynorsk, Novial, Nyanja, Nyankole, Nyasa, Tonga, Nyemba, Nyoro, Occitan, Ogbah, Okiek, Oromo, Otuho, Palauan, Pampanga, Papiamento, Picard, Piedmontese, Pogolo, Pohnpeian, Pökoot, Polish, Portuguese, Prussian, Quechua, Rarotongan, Rendille, Réunion, Creole, French, Rinconada, Bikol, Romanian, Romansh, Romany, Rombo, Ronga, Rundi, Rwa, Saho, Samburu, Samoan, Sandawe, Sango, Sangu, Sãotomense, Sapiny, Sardinian, Sassarese, Sardinian, Scots, Scottish, Gaelic, Sena, Serbian, (Latin), Seri, Seselwa, Creole, French, Shambala, Sheko, Shilluk, Shona, Sicilian, Sidamo, Siksika, Silesian, Slovak, Slovenian, Soga, Somali, Soninke, South, Ndebele, Southern, Sami, Southern, Sotho, Spanish, Sranan, Tongo, Suba, Sukuma, Sundanese, Swahili, Swahili, Congo, Swati, Swedish, Swiss, German, Tahitian, Taita, Takwane, Talysh, (Latin), Tasawaq, Tedim, Chin, Tetum, Tiv, Tok, Pisin, Tokelau, Tonga, Tongan, Tooro, Tsakhur, (Latin), Tsonga, Tsuvadi, Tswana, Tula, Tumbuka, Turkish, Turkmen, (Latin), Tuvalu, Uab, Meto, Umbundu, Upper, Sorbian, Uyghur, (Latin), Uzbek, Venetian, Veps, Vidunda, Volapük, Võro, Vunjo, Wallisian, Walloon, Walser, Waray, Warlpiri, Wayuu, Welsh, West, Albay, Bikol, Western, Frisian, Wolaytta, (Latin), Wolof, Xaasongaxango, Xavánte, Xhosa, Yao, Yapese, Yasa, Yucateco, Zaghawa, Zande, Zarma, Zayse, Zaza, Zigula, Zulu, Zuni