Square: Sans Serif

Based on square forms, FF QType successfully walks the difficult line between pure geometry and legibility. Achaz Reuss used his years of type design experience to flesh out a concept that could have been, in the hands of a student or amateur, a much less useful result. Five subfamilies make up the whole (Compressed, Condensed, Semi Extended, Extended and Square) each in five weights (Extra... Read More

FF Magda is a grunge family designed by Swiss-born designer Cornel Windlin. “I intended it to be a sister font to Erik van Blokland’s very popular FF Trixie, in order to offer a less nostalgic typewriter face to designers with an appetite for Banal Everyday Typography,” wrote Windlin. FF Magda isn’t a lazy effort, however. The family includes no less than nine levels of boldness or ink bleed,... Read More

Originally drawn for a logotype, the FF District Bold style was completed in 2001. For French designer Albert Boton, it was refreshing to work in this style, and to tinker with the weight and the limitations peculiar to this kind of family. The rounded corners and subtle details gave the design stylishness and personality. First released in 2002 as part of FF Bastille Display family (together... Read More

When designers pick FF Cube for their work, they probably already have a pretty good idea of what to expect just from the name alone. FF Cube does not disappoint. This constructed sans has the industrial design look of a Eurostile or similar typeface, but its apertures are more open. A very large x-height helps give the family a compact appearance, too. In the lowercase, strokes hold on to a... Read More

A grown-up, no-nonsense sibling to Erik Spiekermann’s popular FF Meta, FF Unit irons out many of the quirks of its predecessor, dialing back the warmth to a comfortable, if a bit cool, room temperature. Set at small sizes, FF Unit’s legibility is aided by its increased contrast and simplified forms, all of which (a, g, i, j, l, U, M) have alternates. First released in 2003, FF Unit later... Read More

Morris Sans is a newly revised and extended version of a small geometric family of typefaces originally produced by Morris Fuller Benton in 1930 for ATF. His initial design consisted of an alphabet of squared capital letters with a unique twist that characterized its appearance: corners with rounded exteriors and right-angle interiors. The types were intended for use in the fine print found on... Read More

This lively sans combines plain shapes with calligraphic touches. FF Sanuk’s roman letterforms are clean and crisply drawn, but their stylish detailing showcases Dupré’s artistic spirit. Modestly sloped, indeed, nearly upright italics convey a contemporary air while maintaining a high degree of legibility. The seven-weight family progresses in tone from a delicate hairline to a chunky fat face,... Read More

According to designer David Farey, "Cachet is a monospaced, monostroke typeface -- that isn't." Why the sleight of hand? Typefaces that are limited to a single character and stroke width suffer in terms of legibility. Farey's goal in drawing Cachet was to create a typeface that gives the illusion of monospacing, while delivering a subliminal dose of reader-friendliness.At first glance, Cachet... Read More

Zemestro is a straightforward design that is meant to be read. According to its designer, Dave Farey, "There's nothing calligraphic about it, and there are no defining or identifiable single characters -- it's just clean and simply constructed."Farey's goal was to create a more legible and friendlier typeface than those limited to single character and stroke widths. The face finds its... Read More

The branding agency's client wanted an "ultra modern" typeface that was "futuristic without being gimmicky or ephemeral," according to the design brief. Designer Sebastian Lester took on this intriguing custom font assignment, but soon, a bureaucratic decision cancelled the project."I was left with a sketchbook full of ideas and thought it would be a shame not to see what came of them," says... Read More

FF Fago is the quintessential corporate typeface, a result of many years of work within the challenges and requirements of complex corporate design projects. The family offers five finely balanced weights across three widths, enough for virtually any conceivable application. Its various widths were carefully planned and drawn to complement and combine with each other. Aside from the impressive... Read More

ITC Tabula is meant to be read. The design grew out of a study to create a font to set film subtitles. According to Julien Janiszewski, the face's Paris-based designer, “I set parameters for the design whereby the letters had to be able to hold up at very small sizes when set on film and yet must be able to be enlarged 2000 times to be read on a theatre screen.”The subtitle font was not... Read More

Soho is the latest addition to the growing range of typefaces from Sebastian Lester. This grand opus of a project resulted in a typeface that comprises nine weights and five widths of precision engineered OpenType. 40 fonts, 32,668 characters and 24 OpenType features.Hot on the heels of the popular Neo Sans and Neo Tech range, and his first typeface release Scene, Soho represents three years of... Read More