Lionheart is the digitization and expansion of Saladin, a neo-gothic typeface designed by Friedrich Poppl, long after he established himself as one of the greatest German designers of all time with some of the most “ausgezeichnet” scripts and text faces to ever come out of Europe. This typeface, though lesser-known among Poppl’s other masterpieces, was one of the first in its genre to abandon blackletter influence and attempt letter variations based strictly on Roman alphabet shapes. Poppl’s idea spawned a whole generation of neo-gothics that can now be found on many a movie poster or book cover where the design must hint at secrets and dark sides.

Lionheart succeeds with the idea of gradual curves leading to sharp concave or plano-concave terminals, to effectively build serious letter forms that speak of historical mystique and mystery.

This font was was named after Richard I, King of England for a decade in the late 11th century. He reportedly exchanged many gifts of respect with Saladin, even though the two kings were on different sides of the Crusades.

Lionheart comes in all popular font formats, with some alternates placed in accessible cells of the character set.