Letternews: Fonts For User Interface Design

Monitor

Fred Smeijers for OurType

Besides carrying the entire design, one other important requirement for user interface fonts is adaptability. Fred Smeijers’ sturdy humanist sans Monitor was made especially for screen reading and comes in seven complete weights across three widths, normal to condensed.

Program

Zuzana Licko for Emigre

A wide range of weight in two widths gives the typographer room to do a lot with a relatively few styles of Program. Its subtly softened contours and slit counters in its heavier weights make the face easy to recognize, and though its narrow styles diverge from their normal width counterparts, they remain a stylistic match.

Sys

Fabrizio Schiavi for Schiavi Design

Fabrizio Schiavi’s Sys family is drawn for legibility and density, and it’s extremely well hinted for working at small sizes. If you want to try it out but are still unsure, Sys 2.0’s Regular style makes David Sudweeks’ list of Almost Free Fonts, meaning you can get it for next to nothing.

FF Clan®

Łukasz Dziedzic for FontFont

Everything Łukasz Dziedzic touches is built for extensive variability in at least one dimension. FF Clan covers two: In seven weights from thin to ultra, and across six widths from compressed to extended, this robust sans fits anywhere, ever projecting contemporary style.

Foundry Focus: Indian Type Foundry

Though ITF has placed due emphasis on its native, Indic scripts, one can’t help but notice the quality and imagination of its latin designs. Here’s a tight selection we thought might pique your interest.