TV Nova graphics

Czech TV Nova is the largest commercial television station in the country. Its range of channels is very broad, including an entertainment channel, film and sports channels. TV Nova can be compared to Germany’s PRO7. Put side by side with Czech public television channels, Nova’s graphics are more vibrant. Unlike Czech TV, Nova uses a broader palette of typefaces for each of the channels and for individual shows. The logo itself, despite the graphic transformations the station has undergone, has remained František Štorm’s Teuton. For several years, Teuton was the station’s main typeface.

In 2007 TV Nova decided to fundamentally change the graphics its stations used. It got rid of Štorm’s Teuton and contacted Marek Pistora, who worked with Tomáš Brousil (Suitcase Type) to create a typeface that followed the specifications provided by Nova’s graphic design studio. In their working designs, they sought an alternative to a readable, simply designed sans; one source of inspiration was Coolvetica (yes, really the typeface available at Dafont). Although the typeface had plenty of distinctive characters compared to the popular Helvetica, its quality left much to be desired. The result is a geometric sans called (naturally) Novatica.

The typeface bears a slight hint of 1970s typography; these days you could find something like it in the portfolio of House Industries. However, Novatica cleverly combines this essence with the almost timeless appearance of today’s popular grotesques like Helvetica. Novatica features a clearly readable design and pleasant width proportions. The embedded ink traps, primarily used to connect arches to stems, are one of its many interesting assets. As CRT screens were still very much in use in 2007, it was necessary that the typeface be optimised for that.

Read more about Czech typefaces for television on the Briefcase blog.