Beleren
| Beleren | |
|---|---|
 The typeface | |
| Information | |
| User | Magic cards from 2012-Present |
Beleren is a typeface commissioned by Wizards of the Coast in 2012, comprising nine fonts. It is used for the name and type line of typical Magic cards, as well as marketing materials. The typeface is named after Jace Beleren.
History
Before Beleren, Magic cards in the Modern card frame used Matrix Bold for the name and type line, and the oldest cards used a modified version of Goudy Medieval.[1] In 2012, Wizards hired Delve Withrington to create Beleren. He worked for several months with Senior Creative Director Matt Cavotta, Lisa Hanson, Nathan Greene, and Robert Drawbaugh to design the typeface. Withrington described the typeface's asymmetric serifs as a critical element; Cavotta believes that those details embody the nature and otherworldliness of the game. Withrington and Aaron Forsythe both emphasized the "edge" of the new design.[2][3] Beleren intentionally resembles Matrix Bold in weight and shape.[4]
Beleren was designed for display contexts as well as printing, and supports OpenType features, such as swash variants of the characters. Its first public usage in a digital product was in the July 2014 release of Duels of the Planeswalkers.[2] The April Fool's Battlefield in Magic Arena has a spindown d20 labelled in a Beleren font, which its creator noted as anachronisms—neither spindowns nor Beleren existed in 1993, the year in which the battlefield is set.[5]
The first print set to use Beleren was Magic 2015.[4] It has been used extensively in the logos of premier sets.[6]
Gallery
- Selected set logos
-
The last core set before the introduction of Beleren. -
Beleren has a distinctive beak at the top of the uppercase "O". -
Magic Origins, released 2015. -
Archenemy: Nicol Bolas, released 2017. -
War of the Spark, released 2019. -
Modern Horizons 2, released 2021.
References
- ↑ MagicMedieval Font | Dave Howell | FontSpace (en). fontspace (2010-05-04). Archived from the original on 2025-01-12.
- ↑ a b Delve Withrington. "Creation of the Beleren Typeface (en)". TypeLost&Foundry. Archived from the original on March 20, 2015.
- ↑ 25 More Random Things About Magic (en). Archived from the original on 2025-04-01.
- ↑ a b From the Director's Chair: 2013 (en). Archived from the original on April 3, 2025.
- ↑ Making the April Fool's Battlefield and Other Battlefields (en). Archived from the original on 2025-04-04.
- ↑ Blogatog (en). Archived from the original on 2020-11-01.