Herb is based on 16th century cursive broken scripts and printing types. Originally designed by Tim Ahrens in the MA Typeface Design course at the University of Reading, it was further refined and extended in 2010.

The idea for Herb was to develop a typeface that has the positive properties of blackletter but does not evoke the same negative connotations – a type that has the complex, humane character of fraktur without looking conservative, aggressive or intolerant.