Evert Bloemsma

Evert Bloemsma (1958–2005) was a Dutch type designer and graphic designer. In 1981 he graduated from the Hoogeschool voor de Kunsten (currently called ArtEZ) in Arnhem. He taught typography at the Breda academy AKV St. Joost and at ArtEZ.

During his time in Arnhem, Bloemsma became fascinated by 'Swiss typography' (which is also referred to as the International Typographic Style internationally and 'functionalist' in The Netherlands).

Because of this interest, it was no surprise that his first typeface was a sans serif. According to him, there was no place for serifs in the era of new technologies. However, his interest did not go to the typefaces that were characteristic of the International Typographic Style, Univers and Helvetica. Instead, he admired more non-conformist work of designers like Roger Excoffon, whose Antique Olive especially caught his eye. This typeface has two unusual features that Bloemsma also incorporated into his own typeface called Balance: it is heavy at the top – sturdier at the top than at the base – and it has an 'inverted stress', the horizontal strokes are heavier than the vertical strokes. This 'inverted stress' has the function of leading the eye along the lines of text, in a similar way as serifs do in serif typefaces. Bloemsma tried to sell the first version of Balance to several different type foundries, like Berthold, Linotype and Monotype.

In 1986 he digitized the typeface with Ikarus M, a software system developed by his then employer URW in Hamburg. In 1992, the PostScript version of the typeface was finished and published as part of the FontFont library (FSI FontShop International) as FF Balance.

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