Valtancoli Grotesk

This typeface was inspired by hand-carved lettering found in the cemetery surrounding Basilica di San Miniato al Monte in Florence, Italy. During a month-long study abroad program in the summer of 2025, I became fascinated by the handcrafted typography woven throughout the city—from door numbers and business signs to gravestones and church inscriptions. Among the many typographic details I encountered, the lettering on one particular tomb stood out. Its intricate forms and remarkable precision reflected the time and craftsmanship of the person who carved it by hand. I wanted to preserve that work by recreating the lettering as a digital typeface, allowing a small piece of Florence’s overlooked typographic history to live on.