Because of its systematic, grid based design, Black, on the surface, appears to be a pixel typeface. However it was not designed out of nostalgia and retains none of the touchstones of a pixel typeface; instead, Black focusses on squeezing the most out of its self-imposed limitations. With no fixed x-height and metrics that allow the corners of glyphs to touch one another, Black embraces an inflexible and extensive set of idiosyncrasies built from a pure, geometric proposition.

Black's forms are intended to be as minimal as possible. However there are instances where characters need to be more complex to increase legibility for use at small sizes. The uppercase is more traditional in design, with a fixed cap height, whereas the small caps follows the same rules as the lowercase.

The kerning and metrics of Black are quite strict and can produce some interesting results. All the glyphs have uniform sidebearings and where required, have been kerned to either interlock or kiss the corners of neighbouring glyphs. These metrics create some interesting glyph pairings and combinations which work best at display sizes.

Leading should be set depending on the glyphs being used and how you want them to interact. A good starting point is to work in increments of 12.5%. For instance, at 75% leading, uppercase characters without accents will be separated by one grid unit and at 62.5% they will touch each other.