Taca is a typeface built around a shape that Portuguese designer Rúben R Dias calls a “squircle” — neither square nor circle. We usually associate the rounded, convex box with the television screens of the 1960s and Aldo Novarese’s classic typeface, Eurostile. But whereas Eurostile is cold and machined, Taca is warm and rugged, as if it was molded from clay or carved from stone. Taca’s organic nature is also derived from another unique feature: rounded crotches at the right angles where perpendicular strokes meet. This subtle finish, along with blunt stroke endings, softens the otherwise rigid skeleton. With such a strong conceptual vision, Taca could be relegated to the bin of experimental designs, severely limited in their application. But that fate is usually born of a less experienced maker. As a teacher, designer, and letterpress printer, Dias is a type user, keenly aware of the functional requirements of good type. Taca is therefore not a slave to its concept, but a working font family, effective in various sizes and environments. Its lettershapes break away from the base shape whenever it makes sense for legibility, while still maintaining the flavor of the design as a whole. That said, a set of squircle-shaped alternates give the user the flexibility to get more stylized if the situation calls for it. Fitting to its functional aims, Taca has many of the features one expects of a proper text font: upper and lowercase figures, case-sensitive punctuation, and Extended Latin language support. The simplicity, openness, and squareness of Taca’s forms also make it an ideal design for the pixel grid of screen displays.

A humanistic sans serif The first version of this font was created in 1994 within the framework of the bid placed by the city of Graz to become the location for the Winter Olympics in 2006. Appropriately, its original name was ”Olympia.“ The font is intended to embody classic ideals as well as to meet modern demands. The proportions of Charpentier Sans are directly derived from Roman capitals and the humanistic book-face. The contrast between strokes and thin strokes is based on medieval uncial script. And thus, a modern serif sans was created emphasizing thick and thin strokes together. Thanks to its traditional form language, Charpentier Sans is very legible, adapts to various forms of content and expresses a kind of calmness and certainty. Details resulting from writing with the quill guarantee that the font doesn’t appear too rough and unemotional. Even the tiny, pointed mini serifs contribute to the unmistakable appearance of the font. They create an exciting contrast to the soft flowing forms of the letters and are, to a great extent, conducive to the legibility. Consequently Charpentier Sans always appears with an extremely sharp and clear outline. Charpentier Sans Italique has an even more distinct ductus derived from writing. Especially the rounded forms from a, e, f, g and y reflect the handwritten humanistic cursive. Charpentier Sans is comprised of many ligatures, including discretional ones, plus proportional medieval and capital figures for the normal type as well as disproportional tabular figures with a consistent width. Above and beyond the ”normal“ Latin typeface system, small caps are available as an especially elegant form of distinction.

Get your Aussie on! The new typeface, Ainslie, with its mix of influences from Oz, makes its mark as the first semi-serif from insigne Design. Ainslie, named for Mt. Ainslie and Canberra’s inner suburb of the same name, was originally developed for the Canberra Australia Centennial Typeface Competition. Canberra is Australia’s capital, and it’s a planned city designed by American Walter Burley Griffin, a contemporary and one-time associate of Frank Lloyd Wright. Griffin’s plan involved a distinctly geometric design with several focal points--one of which was Mt. Ainslie. This same purely geometric scheme is now the basis for insigne’s new release. Similar to the Chatype project in its scope, its challenge, and the way its concept was developed, Ainslie incorporates influences from Canberra and surrounding areas to form a font that is uniquely Australian. In comparison, Chatype was developed for the city of Chattanooga, Tennessee by insigne in conjunction with designer Robbie de Villiers. Chatype took elements from Chattanooga’s industrial character and Cherokee past and merged them with the area’s technological influences. Likewise, Ainslie takes Canberra’s distinct, geometric design and blends it with the organic, flowing effect of aboriginal art. Add in touches from the smooth, aerodynamic design of the boomerang and Ainslie gives you a look uniquely Australian yet usable in a wide range of applications. The fashionable typeface includes a multitude of alternates that can be accessed in any OpenType-enabled application. These stylish alternates along with a number of swashes as well as meticulously refined details with ball terminals and alternate titling caps keep the font well accessorized. Also included are capital swash alternates, old style figures, and small caps. Peruse the PDF brochure to see these features in action. OpenType enabled applications such as the Adobe suite or Quark can take full advantage of the automatic replacing ligatures and alternates. This family also offers the glyphs to support a wide range of languages. While Ainslie wasn't selected as the final font in the Canberra competition, the outcome allowed for additional adjustments to the typeface. Several approaches were attempted for the final product including a technological hexagonal concept, which may still be developed to another form later. Some of the organic forms were removed and substituted with more abrupt endings, leaving the face looking pretty spiffy and a fair bit more legible. In the end, Ainslie was pulled back to the basic forms from which it was started. Give it a go for your next project. It’s guaranteed to be anything but a barbeque stopper.