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

Steradian is an exploration of the geometric genre and although it has a geometric base, the widths between letters are not much different across the weights, something common of the style. That is due to the process, in which the proportions of the heavier weights paved the way for the lighter ones. It also has a series of details that make Steradian stand out and gives it a special touch. Some of its main features are the double-story ‘a’, its closed apertures and some of the capitals have a distinct personality (such as the G and Q). 

The family has 16 styles, 8 weights plus matching italics.

From a historical point of view, this font owes more to the history of typography than any other font in our catalogue. I wanted to do my own geometric version, but how different it could be? The geometric style is a consolidated style with specific rules and little space for innovation. Sometimes the differences depend on some key characters, the style of the numbers and currency set, or even marginal signs like ‘section’. Steradian is inspired by classic geometric typefaces whilst trying to add a twist to this overcrowded genre. It is a moderate typeface: moderate width proportions, moderate vertical proportions and moderate x height too.  

Steradian basic character set.

All of the round letters are derived directly from the circle, but the shapes are not slave to pure geometry. There are many different shades and variations across the family, adapting the original geometric form to multiple widths and weights. As with many typefaces of its style, it has a pseudo geometric approach with lots of adjustments that make it look more refined. On the one hand the light weights are based on a perfect geometric circle while the heavy weights are more expanded in order to allocate more weight to the letters. In terms of weight, strict geometry has inescapable limits.  

Variation on the original circular shape across the family.

The proportions were worked out from the heavy weights, and thanks to a ‘flexible geometry’, the light weights did not suffer the extreme change in proportions that is typical of the geometric style. I tried to find a balance between pure geometry and proportions which resulted in a hybrid font. For example the top and bottom curves of the lowercase ‘s’ are a little bit flat in appearance compared with the ‘o’, but this is all part of the charm of the typeface.  

Inspired by classic geometric typefaces whilst trying to add a twist to this overcrowded genre.

Some of the characters have distinctive features. In capital letters, ‘G’ has a notorious notch on the right bottom, and capital ‘Q’ has a prominent diagonal. Steradian has a double-story ‘a’ and closed apertures, like in ‘c’ or ‘e’. Some characters have diagonals cuts, like the ‘t’ or the Futura style ‘1’. Finally, letters like ‘t’, ‘j’ and ‘f’ have a sharp endings more typical of the English sans style. 

Detail of some charecteristic features.

There is a more traditional ‘G’ and ‘a’ as alternate characters that turns it into a more classic geometric typeface. During the process I normally design a lot of alternatives for many glyphs just to decide which ones work best, or which combination is more original or adequate for a specific purpose. At the end of the process I edit and reduce all of the alternatives to the essential. For example I had several versions of the ‘Q’ but in the final version there is no alternative because this particular letter contributes a peculiar flavor to the family.

Alternative characters.

Its personality has a clean and modern voice that transmits a contemporary message, ideal for use in editorial and branding. Its close apertures however make it unadvisable for use in smaller sizes but ideal for intermediate and larger scales, where it shows off all of its idiosyncrasies and distinctive text texture. Steradian is a hybrid geometric sans typeface. Most of the letters have a classical architecture but others are unexpected yet matching. It is intended for use in a wide variety of applications and topics where it will add its distinctive touch. 

View Steradian

Isotonic started out as a spin-off with the idea of creating a text oriented version of Ciutadella, It has since taken on a life of its own. Building on a foundation that has proven to work very well, we decided to open the counters and increase the x height. Even though it is not strictly a text font, it works surprisingly well in body sizes and screens. The soft corners gives charm, closeness and an appropriate voice for sports, science, tech, economy etc.

Word comparisson between the original Ciutadella and the new Isotonic

Isotonic is a close relative of Ciutadella, slightly condensed in comparison. It shares the same structure but has some text features that makes the font more legible: open counters in several letters (a, c, e, s, 2, 3, etc), double-story letter ‘a’ , and a higher x-height. There are some more distinguishing details like the squarish i and j dots, the quotation marks or the subtly rounded corners across the family.

Detail comparisson of the soft corners and the x height with Ciutadella

Straight terminals are a recurring resource among techno or futuristic fonts and logos. This is not a new idea, we can see early examples of it in the  XX century with typefaces like Gigant (circa 1900), in the work of Adrian Frutiger with his Element Grotesk, Küppersbusch Systeme logo or the Electricity de France typeface and logo. We could also look at the NASA logo from 1975 or the Nissan logo drawn by Matthew Carter in 1983. Nevertheless, Isotonic is not inspired by any specific typeface, the main idea is to apply straight terminals to a fully functional, multipurpose typeface with a wide range of styles and potential uses.

Several examples of fonts and logos showing similar features across the past century: Küppersbusch Systeme logo (1980) and Electricity de France typeface (1967 - 1968) images are from Osterer, Heidrun, and Philipp Stamm. Adrian Frutiger - Typefaces: the Complete Works. Birkhauser, 2014. NASA logo by Richard Danne, 1974 and Nissan logo by Matthew Carter, 1983. The Gigant font is from Genzsch & Heyse Schriftgiesserei Proben Von Schriften Und Initialen. Hamburg-München: Genzsch & Heyse, 1913. The last example is from the signboard of Chalamanch bookshop in La Pobla de Segur, Catalonia (circa 1980).

The collateral effect of the straight counters is that the typeface becomes hard and mechanical in appearance. We counteracted this effect by using soft corners, striking a balance between mechanical and softness thereby giving a friendly touch to the whole system. 

Even though it is not strictly a text font, it works surprisingly well in body sizes and screens.

This family has a modern, present-day style but maintains a versatility of use. Isotonic has a unusual personality that distinguishes it from others without being completely new, strange or out of place. Some of its shapes are uncommon for a text face but not uncomfortable, in fact, there are dozens of design applications to which Isotonic is well suited like branding, magazines and web.

Selection of characters with open counters

It is available in Open Type format and includes Ligatures, Tabular Figures, Fractions, Numerators, Denominators, Superiors and Inferiors. It supports Central and Eastern European languages. The type family consists of 10 styles, 5 weights (Light, Regular, Medium, SemiBold and Bold) plus italics.

View Isotonic typeface

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