Satyr is Sindre Bremnes’s debut design and a central work in the Monokrom catalog. Bremnes’ roughly hewn take on the classical book typeface captures something uniquely Nordic. Defiant, rugged and weathered, Satyr is the kind of typeface only one designer could draw.

Bremnes grew up in his father’s luthier workshop, surrounded by Baroque instruments. Later on, he would gain experience in traditional boat building. It is with this backdrop Bremnes first came across Jan Vermeulen’s credo, “a straight line is a dead line”.The quote is often attributed to him, but with no clear source.

Satyr’s vibrant curves demonstrate intimate familiarity with the natural tension of bent wood, and an unrivaled ability to translate abstract form to typographic pattern. Satyr contrasts convex and concave curves – its nicks and bends working double duty to stabilize mass and mold whitespace. While initially following translation contrast, the pen seems to change its mind halfway through the curve, sculpting letterforms more so than writing them.

Though certainly not a revival, Satyr owes a great deal to Nordisk Antikva. Initiated by the Swedish printer Waldemar Zachrisson, but drawn by Friedrich Bauer for the Hamburg-based foundry Genzsch & Heyse in 1906, Nordisk Antikva saw widespread use in the Scandinavian countries. For more than three decades, it remained the de-facto Nordic typeface.

Satyr was awarded a gold medal in the Norwegian Visuelt competition. The extended Satyr family includes roman and small caps, italics, and a display companion, Faunus, with higher contrasts and more compact proportions.