Meet Roy, an all-in-one take on the classic Western style, fresh from the creative mind of Alec Tear.
F37 Roy belongs to a familiar genre. Based on the reverse-contrast Clarendon, this genre evokes memories of the bygone gunslinging age nostalgic to us now only through cinema and clichés. But Roy is far more than a half-remembered stereotype. Alec Tear has injected F37 Roy with a contemporary touch, dragging the genre out of the spaghetti Westerns and into the present day. F37 Roy is tightly packed yet bursting with features—deep ink traps, clean lines, and tantalising negative space, to name a few. Available in four weights across three optical sizes, F37 Roy has a style for every occasion.
Alec Tear
• F37 Roy
• Styles 12
• 2025
The Designer
Alec Tear is an independent British designer and lettering artist who partners with creative agencies, brands and other independent specialists all over the world to produce beautiful, effective and original design solutions.
After gaining an extensive background in branding, packaging and creative problem-solving at acclaimed design agency Jones Knowles Ritchie, Alec set up his own practice where he combines his experience of working with brands of all sizes, with his unwavering passion for lettering art which ultimately drives the bold and typographic nature of his work.
Inspiration
F37 Roy
Interview
Tell us about the inspiration behind your collaboration with F37®×. If it was an unused concept, what was the potential use case for it.
I had always wanted to take on the challenge of designing a contemporary slab typeface, so Roy is simply a result of that. By minimizing the width of the serifs and maximizing the x-height Roy encourages punchy graphic typographic layouts that are jam-packed with personality.
When starting the process of creating your font, what typographic conventions did you look to break or experiment with? Or were there conventions of functionality you championed?
I experimented with introducing extreme curvaceous contrast to a style of type that's typically more rigid. While Roy fully embraces the boxy horizontal rhythm of a traditional slab typeface, it also squeezes cheeky personality into any gaps left behind by the varying stroke widths.
Now that your typeface has launched, what would be your dream project to use your F37® typeface on?
I think Roy would make an incredible title for a Coen Brothers film. Failing that I'd love to see someone paint it on the side of a monster truck.
What have you learnt through developing and creating your own typeface(s) with our F37® type designers?
I've learnt a lot about the alterations and compromises required to translate a characterful display font to a readable text font.
How would you describe your typeface in three words?
Big Cheeky Beefcake