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Azbuka Alternatives

See also: Patacio

Noah Nazir
A
Last edited August 13, 2018

The Azbuka™ typeface family has its roots in a fairly pedestrian source. “The idea came in part from an old sign in London that read ‘SPRINKLER STOP VALVE’,” says Dave Farey, designer of the typeface. Like all good sign spotters, Farey took a photograph of the sign and filed it away for possible use in a lettering or typeface design project. In Prague a number of years later, the street signs reminded Farey of the London signage - and his camera came out again. Comparing the two back in his studio, he realized that the signs from London and Prague were not as similar as he initially thought. However, they were enough alike to serve as the foundation for a no-frills, 21st century sans serif typeface family.“I wanted to draw a wide range of weights, italic and condensed designs all in one go,” recalls Farey, “rather than add on to the family later.” His goal was to create a family that could be used for text and display copy, with sufficient weights to provide a broad typographic palette. Indeed, the completed design, created in collaboration with fellow type designer Richard Dawson, consists of twenty typefaces in eight weights ranging from extra light to extra black. The five mid-range designs have complementary italics. Seven condensed designs round out the family.Azbuka’s lighter weights perform remarkably well in blocks of text composition. “They’re clean and legible - and perhaps a little boring,” says Farey, “but they are perfect for copy with a down-to-earth, yet contemporary flavor.” The heavier weights are equally well suited for a variety of display uses. The designs are authoritative but not overbearing and will readily make a strong statement without calling attention to themselves. The condensed weights of Azbuka are ideal for those instances where you have a lot to say - and not much room to say it.The name Azbuka? It’s Russian for “alphabet.” And what more appropriate name could there be for this utilitarian, industrial-strength type family than alphabet?The Azbuka family is available as a suite of OpenType Pro fonts. Graphic communicators can now work with this versatile design while taking advantage of OpenType’s capabilities. The Azbuka Pro fonts also offer an extended character set that supports most Central European and many Eastern European languages

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conceptional
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hypothenuses
Hell: one way in and no way out

Before it was FF Kava, the five-weight family you see here started out as a free font family called Kaffeesatz, published by Yanone in 2004 during the early days of his type design career. The bold weight was drawn from a variety of coffee house lettering from the 1920s, while its lighter weights were done with the purpose of bridging the gap to contemporary design applications. A black weight... Read More

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bureaucratic
Caution to download the steps

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microphysics
Beware of the brick in front of you

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wunderkinder
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Please do not get over it

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bureaucratic
Danger! Dinosaur area, keep out

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japanophilia
Whatever you do, don’t regurgitate

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illustrative
Stay hungry, stay foolish

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fiddlesticks
Holy cow no responsible for your car

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guitarfishes
Do not spit too loud, thank you

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illustrative
Contradiction keeps sanity in place

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enthusiastic
Please do not get over it

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abstractions
Life’s a bitch, and I’m a dog

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zygapophysis
A friction is very interesting

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bureaucratic
Fat people are harder to kidnap

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zygapophysis
Stick to coffee and alcohol

The spark behind the creation FF Hydra family came from observing 19th and early 20th century French poster lettering. Its designer Silvio Napoleone found that the styles of this period combined whimsical, economic, and impactful qualities. A typeface that incorporated these characteristics could be especially relevant to today’s design aesthetic. Naploeone began by sketching an extremely... Read More

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Christian Schwartz
FontFont 2002
Albert Boton
FontFont 2004
Yanone
FontFont 2009
Erik Spiekermann and Ole Schäfer
FontFont 1996
Carol Twombly and Robert Slimbach
Adobe 1992
Morris Fuller Benton
Bitstream 1909
Dave Farey
Monotype 2003
Lukasz Dziedzic
FontFont 2007
Rod McDonald
Monotype 2006
Lutz Baar
Linotype 1999
Nina Lee Storm
Monotype 1999
Linotype Design Studio
Linotype 1900
Werner Schneider and Helmut Ness
Linotype 2002
Donald Handel, Nadine Chahine and Rod McDonald
ITC 2010
Morris Fuller Benton
Monotype 1908
Jos Buivenga
exljbris 2008
Hans Reichel
FontFont 2005
Morris Fuller Benton and E+F Design Studio
Elsner+Flake 1908
Jackson Burke
Linotype 1948
Tobias Kvant
FontFont 2008

Elsner+Flake
Silvio Napoleone
FontFont 2004
Viktor Kharyk and Anatoly Shchukin
ParaType