When choosing a font for the layout of his own book, «Hacer y Componer» («Making and Composing»), Francisco Gálvez decided that the best option would be to design a new typeface that would respond well to the requirements of the book, such as the coexistence of different scripts from around the world on the same page. The result of this design process, which ran parallel to the book’s gestation, is the Otta typeface that we present here. Otta is a versatile design that integrates a dynamic sense of writing (both calligraphic & typographic) with an essence that could be described as artisanal, like hand-drawn lettering. The latter is experienced as a personal reaction to the often unthinking acceptance of the advance of AI as a consumer good. Francisco shares valuable milestones in the self-taught journey he took to design Otta, a family that now includes extended versions of Arabic, Cyrillic, Greek, and Latin panUnicode. He also reveals secrets of type design, in this case closely linked to book design, two crafts that the author practices with passion. Otta is undoubtedly Francisco Gálvez’s masterpiece to date. Here are the motivations & challenges that guided him in the design of this typeface.  Read

For those of you who know us, you know that we like projects that are hard to classify. This is one of them, and it is one that we like very much, the Perec family: a sans grotesque that has a lot to offer. From its origin it responded to quite complex artistic and conceptual criteria, as a tribute to the multifaceted work of French writer Georges Perec, but over time with the addition of new styles it has become a versatile type system offering a diverse palette of easily combinable forms. Here we share with you a brief overview of the design process and the cuisine of these fonts. Just remember that new Perec styles are being prepared! It is an ongoing project. It could not be otherwise, Georges Perec would have wanted it that way.  Read