Bona Nova by Mateusz Machalski

The Bona Nova project was created for the purpose of digitizing Bona — a typeface created in 1971 by the designer of Polish banknotes, Andrzej Heidrich.

The original Bona only comprised of only one style — italic, but Bona Nova currently includes no less than 9 styles, a very extensive character set, small caps, alternates, and OpenType features.

The fonts

• FREE: 3 Bona Nova styles — Regular, Italic, Bold
• The full Bona family also includes 6 additional display styles:
  • Bona Sforza (ornamental) — Light, Regular, Bold
  • Bona Title (display) — Regular, Italic, Bold

The OpenType features

• Standard & Discretionary Ligatures
• Contextual & Stylistic Alternates
• Swashes
• Ordinals, Fractions, Slashed zero, Superiors, Numerator, Denominator, Inferiors
• Figures Styles: Default, Lining, Oldstyle, Proportional, Tabular, Default Figures Width
• Smallcaps
• Capitals to Smallcaps
• Case Sensitive Forms
• … and more.

Typeface characteristics

• Classical proportions
• Limited details and subtle contrast
• Inspired by the Italian renaissance Antiqua
• Ordinals, Fractions, Slashed zero, Superiors, Numerator, Denominator, Inferiors
• Figures Styles: Default, Lining, Oldstyle, Proportional, Tabular, Default Figures Width
• Smallcaps
• Capitals to Smallcaps
• Case Sensitive Forms
• … and more.

The team behind the Bona Nova project

All the team members graduated from the Academy of Fine Arts in Warsaw.

• Andrzej Heidrich — author of original Bona typeface. Well known in Poland for his 50+ years of work (banknotes, documents and postal stamps designed by Heidrich are in common use). He also created military decoration medals and ex libris graphics.
• Mateusz Machalski — The author of Bona Nova Project. Graduated the Graphic Design Department of the Academy of Fine Arts in Warsaw with honors.
• Leszek Bielski — Design collaborator
• Ania Wieluńska — Design collaborator
• Michał Jarociński — Design collaborator