Micrograph is a sans serif that navigates the line between classic and modern, ensuring its relevance and appeal will endure into the future. It has a subtle personality that sets it apart without compromising legibility. The spacing is tight, and its vertical proportions are compact with very short descenders. In the lighter weights, it features prominent punctuation that normalizes as the weight increases. With a clean and mechanical aesthetic, Micrograph offers great versatility across all media.

Clean and mechanical aesthetic.

With an eye on classic typefaces, it aims to reinterpret that tradition through a contemporary and forward-looking perspective. The initial sketches date back to early 2022. The design went through several stages; initially, it had a stronger and more defined personality, but over time, it evolved into a more moderate and conservative character, which also made Micrograph more elegant, versatile, and timeless.

The family consists of 18 styles: 8 weights with matching italics and 2 variable fonts.

In this sense, the question is why choose a moderate personality over one full of character, with distinctive or trendy elements here and there. Trends are very tempting, but they also have an expiration date. Just as they start, they end, and what is trendy today will not be in the future. One of Micrograph’s purposes is to endure and be a useful tool for designers. On the other hand, trends with highly distinctive elements tend to have the opposite effect: they homogenize all typefaces, because those details are the first things that catch the eye. This is why Micrograph has a subtle yet identifiable personality.

Some characteristic details contribute to its unique identity, such as the subtle "overbite" of the apertures.

Micrograph is a sans serif that navigates the line between classic and modern, ensuring its relevance and appeal will endure into the future.

It is a sans serif that draws influences from multiple typographic styles. You could say it's an amalgamation of styles, or we could describe it as a neo-grotesque that incorporates details from many other typographic styles. To mention a few, it is vaguely inspired by Gothic No. 8 in the mechanical curves of the "f," "t," "r," and "y," which are also present in the "l", like in the Edward Johnston’s humanist typeface. In a way, the figures follow a traditional neo-grotesque construction, similar to that of Neue Haas Grotesk, Unica, and other classics. The tail of the "Q" has a spiky ending, more characteristic of the geometric style, as seen in Sol Hess's Twentieth Century typeface. In summary, it doesn't follow any specific model; however, it takes inspiration from many sources to create something original, yet familiar and useful. Upon close examination, as its name suggests, Micrograph reveals characteristic details like the subtle displacement of its apertures, adding a bit of tension and interest to headlines and larger sizes.

From top to bottom, Die Neue Haas Grotesk specimen (1959), Gothic No. 8 Pony specimen (1907) and Johnston typeface (1916). 

The family consists of 18 styles: 8 weights with matching italics and 2 variable fonts (Roman & Italic). A complete range of weights is available, ready to handle projects of any size. As with all typefaces, the extreme weights—very light or very heavy—are intended for display use, while the intermediate weights are more versatile. With a clear, modern voice, this typeface is perfect for conveying contemporary messages. Whether in digital settings like UX/UI or in editorial or branding projects, it adapts effortlessly, adding a distinctive and stylish touch to the content.

Basic character set. 

View Micrograph

Geogrotesque Mono is the fixed-width counterpart of Geogrotesque. As in the original, the rounded finish provides a warm appearance and make it less hard or technological. It is ideal to use in tables and drafts, but also in packaging or branding where a technical or classic appearance is desired. Geogrotesque Mono is the perfect match for the all time best seller Geogrotesque. It comes in 14 styles: seven weights, plus seven underscored versions.

Geogrotesque, formal principle. 

Since the launch of Geogrotesque in the late 2008, I have had many failed attempts of doing a monospace version to accompany it. Actually, I have always given up the projects to start something more stimulating. It wasn't until mid 2023 that I took up the idea again. The first monospaced font in my catalogue was Approach Mono, then Inklination Mono; previously, I had done some monospaced fonts for clients. So, when I started this new version of Geogrotesque Mono, in some way, I used all the new knowledge I had accumulated recently and, instead of going back to previous attempts, I started again from scratch.

Emtype's monospaced fonts, Aribau and Shentox, have not been published yet.

First of all, I've rethought the width and decided not to force myself to respect the traditional “pitch” width (number of glyphs per inch in a specific point size); nowadays, it doesn't make much sense. The value of 600 ems is common, but it is not a fixed rule. It depends on the design and the specific typography needs. The original Geogrotesque is a bit condensed, and in my previous attempts, I always tried with 600 ems of width, which is the width of Courier and a popular choice, but I got a very light and open texture. In this published version, I switched to 560, and it works much better. The positive side effect of this decision is that Geogrotesque Mono saves horizontal space compared with traditional monospaced fonts like the mentioned Courier or San Francisco Mono, for instance. In monospaced fonts, the spacing is determined by the glyph (advance width) minus the width of the outline (bounding box or width); a change in the width has a huge impact on the texture. Finding the perfect black and white balance in a mono is a long but rewarding process; even better, kerning is not needed.

Comparison of Geogrotesque Mono with Other Monospaced Fonts. 

Due to the process of finding the ideal spacing, the uppercase letters are more condensed than the lowercase letters. This caused numbers, which are usually narrower than capitals, to have almost the same width as capitals. That is why the zero has a diagonal bar, to distinguish it from the capital O.

fi and fl ligatures are required in most common font encodings. In a context where all characters must be 560 Ems in width, what should be the width of the ligatures? I tried compact ones, but they were a bit noisy and broke the rhythm. Considering that programs like InDesign activate standard ligatures by default, it was not a good idea. The solution was to double the width of the ligatures to 1120, which looks more natural.

Some discarted options in grey and ligatures.

The punctuation is another detail to pay attention to in a mono; commonly, it is heavier and bigger to fill more of the width and avoid the empty feeling in the glyphs. That is why characters like the period, colon, semicolon, etc. are heavier; the same happens with the tittle of 'i' and 'j'. Other characters that were challenging to make fit in the available space were characters that were originally too wide, such as fractions, 'M', 'W', 'm', 'w'. On the other hand, 'i', 'l', or 'I' were too narrow and needed to fill the space, making them wider.

Comparison of Geogrotesque and Geogrotesque Mono. 

The are many historical references of monospaced typefaces and one of the recurring variation is the underscored one. This is not surprising, as monospace typefaces emerged due to typewriter machines, and underscoring was a method for highlighting text when there were no options for different weights or italics. Thus, when the first movable types of monospaced typefaces began to appear, they replicated this practice adding an underscored version. Although Geogrotesque Mono already has 7 weights for highlighting and contrasting text, it also includes an underscored version, which broadens the possibilities of use and makes it more versatile.

Source of inspiration: Slik Remington Underscored Typewriter. American Type Founders Company Specimen Book and Catalogue 1923. New Jersey: ATF, 1923.

Geogrotesque Mono U (U stands for underscored) can be used to highlight text like in the old days or simply to add another dimension to your design. Many characters have been adapted to perfectly match the underscore, for example, curly braces {([])}, descending letters like ‘g’ or ‘j’, etc.

Exploration to find the ideal counterpart. The goal was to create a compact and functional family, that implies the discard of superfluous, yet interesting, variations. Designers frequently view typefaces as overly complex, thus simplification is always a wise choice.

Geogrotesque Mono is perfect for use in coding or technical environments. It is well-suited for tables, film subtitles, scripts, and drafts, or professional communication where a technical or methodical appearance is desired. Its clarity and uniformity make it a solid choice for data representation and instructional material. But not only that, monospace typefaces exhibit a distinctive and attractive aesthetic, especially in editorial, packaging, or branding projects seeking to evoke a nostalgic or classic ambiance. The precise, grid-based structure of monospaced characters can infuse a design with personality and allure. The range of weights allows enough flexibility in design, making it appropriate for use in a general design context rather than limiting it to a merely technical one.

Suitable for a large range of situations, from whisky or cosmetic labels to tables or drafts; it could even be used for spatial computing :)

Since the release of the original Geogrotesque, many clients have asked us for a good monospaced font that pairs well with it. Geogrotesque Mono has arrived to answer that need and complement this popular family. It comes in 14 styles: seven weights, plus seven underscored versions. Variable fonts are included with the family or available as separate styles. / em.

View Geogrotesque Mono

Classike is a high contrast squarish display typeface. Inspired by the Art Déco period from a modern perspective. Refined and elegant yet with a mechanical vibe, it is ideal for pairing with any functional font, it works especially well with Geogrotesque, from which it inherited its proportions and soul. Classike adds an exclusive touch and helps enrich your graphic voice.

Basic characters of Classike Regular.

Inspiration

It is inspired by the Art Déco period and street signs typography. While traveling, I noticed that many signs combine squarish sans typefaces with high contrast styles of the same typeface. Those typefaces, sometimes lettering, thanks to the contrast, were more elegant and refined but had the same structure and conceptual essence as the squarish sans. 

One of the sources of inspiration; a traditional sign in Pugicerdà, Catalunya.

Classike inherits the proportions of Geogrotesque Sharp. I thought it was a solid starting point to create a high contrast sans. In the beginning we did several proofs to see how far we could push the contrast, but we finally opted for a moderate solution to make it usable in a wider range of situations. Despite this, it still looks luxurious and elegant. 

Comparisson between Geogrotesque Sharp and Classike, both in SemiBold.

In the beginning we did several proofs to see how far we could push the contrast, but we finally opted for a moderate solution to make it usable in a wider range of situations.

Details

Apart from the high contrast that adds most of the charm, there are less visible details like the middle bar that has been aligned in several letters such as, B, E, F, G, K and H and the numbers 3 and 8. It is reminiscent of the hand painted street signs, where the letter artist would use only a few alignment lines for all letters. These regular proportions emphasised the Art Déco look of the family. 

Detail of the middle bar alignment in several letters.

It is common for many alternates to appear during the typeface design process, however, more is not always better. Too many alternates can lead to chaos and confusion for the user. So, the work of the type designer is also about editing, choosing which alternates are really useful and make sense for the project. Classike comes with just two alternates, M and R. Not a lot, evidently, but just enough to expand possibilities without deviating from the concept.

M and R with its alternate versions.

Naming

The naming deserves its own chapter. Nowadays, it’s extremely time-consuming to find a name that meets all the conditioning factors that a good font name needs. Asides from anything else it should be memorable, euphonic and short (for technical reasons). Most importantly, it must express the spirit of the font and show its best face; the name is like a mini specimen and most of the time it is the only touchpoint of your font with potential customers. On top of all this, the key aspect and the most difficult to achieve today is that it must be unused by any other font. With over 200k available fonts and counting (Between commercial and free fonts), it is becoming increasingly harder to do this. A good solution for the overload of names is to use a foundry prefix. I could use EMT for instance, but that would be a shortcut and as I didn’t do this from the beginning, I prefer to continue with the tradition and keep the names clean. This pushes us to find or invent original names that avoid any unfortunate coincidence. That is why Classike is not simply called Classique, in the proper french way.

Showcase of Classike working together with Approach.

Usage

Pairing with Geogrotesque is obviously easy due to its origin, but also with any functional sans. Above you can find a combination example with Approach. As a general rule, I design typefaces with a specific use in mind, it could be a very large list or short and specific. In this case, Classike was meant to be used in elegant situations so I wrote down the tentative usage in order to focus on the style. Among others, that list includes: Luxury resorts, lifestyle, heritage, wineries, private spaceships, cruises, Italian cars, classic bikes, cinema magazines, musicals, architecture, credits of mystery movies, perfumes, etc. These lists are useful but not always matched with the real usage of our fonts once published. The family include a Variable Font that adds all the advantages of the format (All in one file, low size, custom styles, etc). Although Variable Fonts are not fully established in the market yet, it is ready and waiting for that moment. In clonclusion, we are really looking forward to see all of your fantastic uses of Classike :)

View Classike

Hospital Sant Joan de Déu Barcelona is a teaching hospital specializing in the fields of pediatrics, gynecology and obstetrics. It is located on Passeig Sant Joan de Déu in Esplugues de Llobregat, a municipality bordering Barcelona, Catalonia. It is a privately owned center concerted by the Catalan Health Service which belongs to the Hospitaller Order of St. John of God, a religious organization that manages nearly 300 health centers over the world. The center has 362 beds and 12 operating rooms. It employs more than 1,200 professionals and attends every year more than 4,000 births, 130,000 emergencies, records 26,000 admissions and 13,000 surgeries performed. 

The branding and signage redesign project was created by Arauna Studio, Rai Botey and Rai Pinto Studio between 2015 and 2017. Ciutadella font family is the main typeface used for all the design applications in this project.

View Ciutadella font

It is always better to try before you buy, and we understand that live testers of foundries websites are not always enough. This is why we are offering free trial fonts (test fonts) of our entire library for you to download, now you can test hundreds of typefaces from more than 20 font families. Despite having a limited character set, you can see how they perform before licensing the full versions. 

Trial Fonts (test fonts) can be used only for testing purposes. For instance, you can use test fonts to mock up your designs for contests or use them in academic projects. See the most common examples of test fonts usage below.

Allowed uses of trial fonts (test fonts)

– Testing and evaluation

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– Client presentations

– Comping purposes

– Competitions

– Student projects

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