Neutral Sans Workhorse
Obsidian Black + Saltriver Grotesk
Lets Obsidian Black own the focal silhouette while handling secondary copy, sizing and subheads cleanly.
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Slender outlined blackletter
Obsidian Black
Obsidian Black is a slender outlined blackletter in silver on a black marble ground: mixed case with small spirals at the terminals, long fine tips, doubled edges and a scaled texture on the fill, set in two lines with a small tracked line beneath between two hairline rules and drawn fleurons.
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Get this fontProject & layout blueprintsAt-a-glance maker compatibility
Cutting, print & workflow scorecard.
Sturdy stroke walls and open counters weed cleanly on adhesive vinyl, HTV apparel film, and cut cardstock.
Plotter & output verdictEasy-Weed Vinyl & Print Ready
Recommended minimum scale0.75 in+ cap height
Character set & structureUppercase, Lowercase & Numerals
OpenType & PUA accessStandard Latin, Figures & Punctuation
Best surfaces & mediaWedding Suites · Foil Envelopes · Boutique Logos
Compatible design toolsIllustrator · Affinity · Canva Pro · Cricut & Silhouette
Visual anatomy & craft review
Letterform structure
of Obsidian Black.
The plate is a dark specimen with drawn borders, and the pale silver holds because the ground is almost black. The drawing is a slender outlined blackletter where the strokes are doubled and the terminals finish in small spirals, so the letters read as engraved metal rather than as writing, and the fine tips are the element that sets the size floor, since they vanish first. The two hairline rules and the fleurons frame the words without competing, and the tracked line beneath is product copy that names the style. Because the construction is fine and outlined, the face suits a cover, a certificate and a label, and it needs a clean substrate rather than a rough paper, since the doubled edges would fill.
Decorative, blackletter, outlined, ornate
Two-font hierarchy recipes
Suggested font
pairings.
Tested contrast partners — pairing Obsidian Black with grounded secondary typography.
Structured Secondary Voice
Obsidian Black + Things
Grounds bold display lettering with classic typographic authority on posters, badges and apparel.
Inspect Things specimenPractical applications
Project & layout
blueprints.
Concrete hierarchy, scale and production guidance tailored to Obsidian Black’s stroke geometry.
Poster for a gothic season
A slender outlined gothic reads as engraved metal, and the pale fill holds on a dark poster from a distance. The pale fill reads at distance.
Hierarchy & layout recipe
A2 poster: the event at 100 mm cap height, the details in a 14 mm serif, and the venue at 11 mm. Keep 32 mm margins and print two colours on a dark stock.
Pre-production check
Check the A2 at five metres, where a fine tip can vanish; keep it above 2 mm. Confirm the 11 mm venue reads at two metres and that the fleurons clear the title.
Cover for a gothic novel
An outlined blackletter frames a period cover, and the doubled edges give the title an engraved finish. The outline reads as engraving.
Hierarchy & layout recipe
Set the title at 85 mm cap height across 180 mm, the author in a 12 pt serif, and the imprint at 8 pt. Print two colours on a coated stock and keep 22 mm margins.
Pre-production check
Check the title at 85 mm, where the outline gap can close; keep it above 0.3 mm. Confirm the 8 pt imprint survives lamination and that the tips clear the trim.
Certificate for a themed wedding
An outlined gothic gives a certificate ceremony, and the spirals give the names a drawn finish without a script. The spirals give a finish.
Hierarchy & layout recipe
A4 certificate: the names at 36 mm cap height, the date at 13 pt, and the seal at 45 mm. Keep 20 mm margins, print two colours on a heavy card and rule a border 10 mm inside the trim.
Pre-production check
Check the 36 mm names, where the outline can merge with the fill; keep the gap above 0.4 mm. Confirm the 13 pt date reads at arm's length and that the names clear the border.
Technical & licence verification
File & listing specifications.
File & glyph specifications
- Style classification
- Decorative · Slender outlined blackletter
- Foundry / creator
- T.D. House
Confirm included OTF/TTF/WOFF formats, full glyph tables and licence coverage on the live store page before batch production.
Closest visual alternatives
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to compare.
Matched across letterform anatomy, stroke behaviour and craft applications.
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Same independent foundry
