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1. The Legacy
The Legacy
The original Nexa holds a unique place in the design community. Since its release, it quickly became a fan-favorite—a go-to geometric sans-serif known for its approachable, clean lines and distinct, modern feel. Nexa was, and still is, a typeface that simply works, providing a reliable foundation for countless brand identities and digital projects around the world.
But the landscape of design is always evolving. Today’s projects demand more: complex digital interfaces, sophisticated data visualization, and, most importantly, true multinational reach. A popular typeface needs to be more than just visually appealing; it must be a comprehensive typographic system. This crucial need for expanded technical depth and global capability is what set the stage for the next major evolution in the family.
We responded by carefully preserving the personality that made Nexa famous, while completely rebuilding its technical foundation. Nexa Pro is the result: a new, comprehensive family that delivers preserved geometry, expanded language coverage, and deeper typographic control.
As Type Director Vika Usmanova says (read the full interview below), the concept was to: “keep everything people already loved about the original its clean, modern style but make it more powerful and ready for today’s global design needs.” The key areas of improvement focus on three pillars: increased scale for global use, refined legibility for long-form reading, and ultimate creative control.
The Founder’s Vision: An Interview with Svet Simov
We begin by sitting down with Fontfabric Founder and CEO, Svet Simov, the original author and visionary behind the Nexa concept, to understand the foundational philosophy that guided the creation of the Pro family.
Preserving the Original Geometric Integrity and Defining the Fontfabric Vision. Svet Simov shares the foundational philosophy behind Nexa’s clean, approachable geometry and how that initial creative spark guided the entire Nexa Pro expansion, ensuring the family stays true to its beloved aesthetic roots.
Nexa has been a bestseller for Fontfabric for years. As the original designer, what was the foundational design philosophy that made the original Nexa so successful and enduring?
Svet Simov: “The foundational philosophy for the original Nexa was geometric clarity balanced with human approachability. We didn’t just chase the cold, strict geometry of the early modernists. We deliberately introduced elements like the subtle adjustments to the curves and the iconic character of the lowercase “g” to give it a warmer rhythm. It was built on the core geometric forms I love, but engineered to be flexible. Designers chose it because it was clean and professional, yet it felt distinct and had a soul. It gave them a geometric skeleton they could trust, and that has a timeless quality that just doesn’t fade.”
What were your initial thoughts when the team proposed developing a “Pro” version of such an iconic typeface? Did you feel a sense of pressure to evolve a design that was already so widely loved?
Svet Simov: “I didn’t have any particular thoughts when I heard about the idea for a Pro version of my bestseller. To me, it remains the most natural thing to equip a well known product with additional letters and characters, especially one that has become a globally recognized standard for something practical, elegant, beautiful, and functional. It was, if anything, a joyful prospect, because positive development is always desired.”
The original Nexa was a geometric sans based on simple forms—a signature of your design style. How did you guide the team to ensure Nexa Pro maintained that geometric essence while incorporating modern refinements and the immense expansion of the character set?
Svet Simov: “Deep down, I always knew I was leaving Nexa in the hands of my colleagues, with whom I’ve worked for years. They are fully aware of the level and standards that must be maintained. We always discuss the issues and details together until we reach a consensus decision. Personally, in the design of every single typeface, it’s necessary to bury the hatchet of ego and personal opinions, and objectively make the best possible decision for every single letterform or character.”
The team has expanded Nexa Pro to include Greek, extended Cyrillic, and more, effectively making it a global type system. How crucial is this extended language support to Fontfabric’s vision for a modern typeface?
Svet Simov: “The goal is that anyone who sees “Pro” or “Pan” after the font’s name immediately recognizes the potential for their language to be supported, and that the variety of characters guarantees that everything they need to write will be covered. Just as an example: shortly after the Pro version was released, the font was purchased by a user from Greece. We plan for Nexa to become an intercontinental polyglot.”
With Nexa Pro offering separate “Display” and “Text” versions, it’s designed to be a complete visual identity system. Was this dual-purpose utility always the end goal for the Nexa family?
Svet Simov: “It was always the potential goal, but the need for a dedicated Text version became undeniable as Nexa’s usage expanded globally. The “Pro” vision wasn’t just about adding more weights; it was about creating a cohesive ecosystem. We now have a Display version for those bold, expressive branding statements, and a Text version carefully tuned by the team with improved harmony and softer features for extended copy.”
Where do you see Nexa Pro fitting into the current landscape of type design?
Svet Simov: “The main strength of Nexa Pro lies in the combination of a versatile sans-serif that gives you the comfort to create something workable and readable, and the variety of at least two main display forms. This choice of variability is something long sought after by designers. Furthermore, this bestseller doesn’t lack any of the latest innovations in font technology, such as Variable weight definitions.”
Is there a specific design detail, refinement, or new character that stands out to you as the most gratifying part of Nexa’s evolution into the Pro version?
Svet Simov: “I’m truly proud of the team’s work on the extended scripts—the Cyrillic and Greek are a massive achievement. But, if I have to pick one detail, it’s the consistency of the weights across the entire system. Maintaining that core Nexa feeling from the thinnest Extra Light to the heaviest Black across all those new styles and scripts is the most demanding and, ultimately, the most gratifying technical feat. It’s a testament to the meticulous work of Ani, Iva, and Vika.”
If you had to describe Nexa Pro in a single sentence to a designer who has never used a Fontfabric typeface, what would you say?
Svet Simov: “Do you want to meet something discreet, practical, balanced, and rhythmic, essentially evergreen, yet with unique, authentic, and unmatched character traits? Look at Nexa Pro.”
Key Pillars of the Nexa Pro System
From Local Favorite to Global Citizen: Expanded Language Support
Nexa Pro was built to be a true global workhorse a font family that ensures brand consistency no matter where your audience is located. The Pro version now includes extensive language support for Greek, expanded Cyrillic, and Vietnamese, alongside its core Latin set. This means designers can handle multinational branding, complex application design, and large-scale editorial projects without needing to stitch together multiple typefaces. Nexa Pro is a single, consistent solution for any client with a global footprint.
The Workhorse Difference: Nexa Pro Text
The original Nexa Text solved the need for improved body copy, but Nexa Pro Text takes that optimization to a new level. It’s an engineered solution focused entirely on enhanced functional design for critical applications. Nexa Pro Text is specifically optimized for legibility in long form content, small text sizes, and critical user interface (UI) design. We implemented subtle adjustments, such as refined counter shapes and balanced proportions, all working together to minimize eye fatigue and ensure a comfortable reading experience over long paragraphs. It’s the precision of Nexa, now engineered for the rigors of modern digital interfaces.
Beyond Basic: Rich Features for Complete Creative Control
For designers who demand maximum artistry, Nexa Pro offers a rich typographic toolkit. The family includes robust OpenType features that elevate your design options far beyond standard rendering. Key additions include precise Small Caps, classic Old-style Figures (perfect for editorial layouts and data), a vast range of currency symbols, and practical features like the Slashed Zero. These tools give you the ability to fine-tune your work for high level branding, sophisticated data visualization, and complex typographic hierarchies, ensuring you have total control over every detail.
Engineering the Pro Family: Meet the Designers
The evolution from the classic Nexa to the comprehensive Nexa Pro was driven by the collaborative expertise of this team. We sat down with the designers and type directors who engineered the expansive features, technical precision, and global language capability required for the next decade of design.
The Nexa Pro Design Team
The technical leap to Nexa Pro was the result of collaborative expertise. Type Director Vika Usmanova, alongside designers Ivelina Martinova and Ani Dimitrova, engineered the ambitious features, technical precision, and global language capability required for the next decade of design.
Can you introduce yourselves?
Vika Usmanova: “I’m Vika Usmanova, Type Director at Fontfabric.”
Ani Dimitrova: “Hi! My name is Ani and I’m a type designer at Fontfabric. I love experimenting with the visual language of letters and exploring new ways of expression through typography.”
Ivelina Martinova: “I’m Ivelina Martinova — type designer at Fontfabric. I work on the creation and development of contemporary typefaces that combine functionality, aesthetic balance, and a distinct character. My focus is often on extended language support, crafting harmonized systems across Latin, Cyrillic, and Greek scripts.”
What inspired you to create Nexa Pro? Tell us more about the concept behind it?
Vika: “Nexa Pro started as a continuation of one of our most loved fonts, Nexa. Over time, Nexa became very popular, and designers started asking for more, more language support, more features, and more flexibility. The idea was to keep everything people already loved about the original its clean, modern style but make it more powerful and ready for today’s global design needs.“
Ani: “The idea behind Nexa Pro was to build upon the original Nexa and give it greater functionality and a more contemporary feel. Beyond the design improvements, Nexa now speaks many languages and serves as a great tool for any design project.”
Ivelina: “Nexa is one of our best-selling type families… Creating Nexa Pro was a natural and predictable next step in its evolution. With Nexa Pro, we significantly expanded the linguistic and technical scope. The Pro version now supports Greek, Vietnamese, Kazakh, Azerbaijani, and includes small caps, old-style figures, and matching italics for every weight.”
What were some of the biggest challenges you faced during the font creation process?
Ani: “One of the main challenges was maintaining consistency across all the styles it offers, from the thinnest to the boldest, as well as between different scripts (Latin, Cyrillic, Greek). Additionally, the optical balance required meticulous work: each letter had to look stable on its own while fitting harmoniously within the text flow.”
Vika: “Adding more language support was another big challenge. We expanded Nexa Pro to include Greek, extended Cyrillic, and Vietnamese, and it was important that all scripts looked like they belonged to the same family not just added on top.”
Ivelina: “The biggest challenge was definitely the scale of the character set. We had never developed such an extensive glyph case in such a short period before. It required great precision, consistency, and teamwork to maintain the integrity of Nexa’s design across so many scripts and stylistic variations.”
How do you envision Nexa Pro being used by designers in the creative industry? What are its best use cases?
Ivelina: “Nexa Pro comes in both display and text versions, each with its own strengths. The display styles are bold and expressive — perfect for branding, advertising, and signage. The text styles are softer and more harmonious, making them ideal for long-form reading, editorial layouts, and book design. When combined, the two work beautifully together, offering designers a cohesive visual system.”
Vika: “I see Nexa Pro as a reliable tool for many kinds of projects from branding and packaging to websites, apps, and magazines. Because Nexa Pro and Nexa Pro Text were built to match perfectly, designers can easily use them together in one system… and keep the same visual harmony.”
Ani: “Nexa Pro is a versatile typeface it can be used in branding, editorial design, web and UI, posters, and corporate identity. Its strength lies in being clean and professional, yet full of character and individuality.”
Did other fonts inspire you in the design process of Nexa Pro?
Ani: “Yes, definitely. We drew inspiration from classic geometric typefaces but approached them in our own way with a softer rhythm and improved readability. We also analyzed modern sans-serif fonts to find the right balance between a technological feel and human aesthetics.”
Ivelina: “While Nexa Pro builds upon the DNA of the original Nexa, the process was guided more by refinement than direct inspiration. We focused on optimizing proportions, rhythm, and tone, making it more versatile and contemporary without losing its geometric essence.”
If Nexa Pro were a person, what qualities would they possess?
Ani: “He’s a professional with a strong aesthetic sense, who values order and harmony but isn’t afraid to face modern challenges.”
Vika: “I think Nexa Pro would be confident and calm, modern but friendly. Someone who’s organized, flexible, and comfortable in different situations — professional, but not distant.”
Ivelina: “I imagine Nexa Pro as modern and composed — confident, stable, and adaptable, with more than one side to its personality. It can be both expressive and restrained, depending on the context.”
Do you have any set of characters that you favor most?
Vika: “Yes! My favorite letter is “Җ”. It’s part of the Tatar alphabet. I’m half Tatar… That letter reminds me of my roots. And when I lived in Istanbul, I realized how close Tatar and Turkish are… So for me, “Җ” feels like a small connection between my past and the cultures I’ve lived in.”
Ani: “Personally, I have a soft spot for the Cyrillic letter “б” in the display version… I also love the Latin letter “g,”which truly captures the spirit of the typeface. You can recognize Nexa from miles away just by that letter. I’m also fond of the Greek characters…”
Ivelina: “I’m particularly fond of Nexa Pro’s Greek set, as well as the new extended Cyrillic glyphs. They carry a certain balance and elegance that reflect the care we put into expanding the type family beyond its Latin roots.”
Nexa Pro represents the next decade of geometric sans-serif design. It successfully retains the beloved, approachable personality of the original Nexa while delivering the technical depth, global capability, and essential features required by modern design studios. It is a harmonious system where legacy meets future, and personality meets precision.
If you’ve been searching for a versatile typeface that can handle anything from a global application interface to a high-end editorial layout, your search is over. It’s time to retire those patchwork solutions and put a truly comprehensive system to work.
