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Uniwidth Typefaces

Bold takes up the same amount of space as Regular.

David Sudweeks

Last edited August 07, 2015

The term uniwidth may generally be applied to proportionally-spaced typefaces whose character widths are consistent along its weight axis; Also known as weight duplexing. Here’s an example of what I’m talking about:

Say you’ve got a block of text and you need to set an entire paragraph in a slightly heavier weight. With most typefaces, this pushes the lines longer and causes the text to reflow. But with uniwidth typefaces, the lines remain the same width in the heavier weight because each character (regardless of its weight) shares the same width.

Are they monospaced? No, these are proportionally spaced, meaning wider characters like ‘m’ and ‘w’ and ‘—’ (em dash) take up more space than narrower ones such as ‘i’ or ‘f’ or ‘.’ (period). In a monospaced typeface, these would occupy the same fixed amount of space (across all characters, and presumably in all weights). The thing that’s uniform in a uniwidth face is the width of any given character, say, the lowercase ‘a’—it has the same character width in the lightest weight as in the heaviest. Though the lowercase ‘f’ is narrower than ‘a’, the width of the ‘f’ is uniform across all weights.

There are other reasons for designing type with identical font metrics across multiple fonts in a family, among them, to make text grades—a system of finely stepped weights that permit a typographer to achieve consistent output when different press conditions otherwise prevent it—and to make chromatic type—sets of layered fonts that allow the typographer to set single characters in multiple colors.

One last reason for creating a uniwidth design is because the means of output require it. Linotype type casting machines allowed the typesetter to set both Roman and italic, (or regular and bold weights) from a single set of matrices or ‘mats’, but the technology required that the italic characters be fit to the same width of the corresponding character in the Roman. This led to some distinctively narrow lowercase ‘f’s in the italic which makes their identification that much simpler.

$Math is easy, design is hard$

Bitstream’s cut of Bell Gothic—a typeface designed for Bell Telephone’s phone books—allows you to interchangeably substitute a line set in its Light weight, with the same text set in its Bold weight.

Similarly, Axia’s character widths are respectively the same across all its five weights and variants.

This text-focused family allows you to change a block of text set in its Book weight, for example, to Medium—without the text reflowing. This doesn’t include the italic, which follows its own uniwidth system.

Low stroke contrast, generous spacing, and fine-grained weights from Light to Extra Bold make FF Hertz a workhorse text typeface which... Read More

Similar to Bell Gothic above, Lipa Agate was intended for small sizes (and adverse printing conditions). Emphasize a single line in bold without worry of having to reflow the text.

Developed over a ten year period, FF Balance is an experimental sans serif that subverts the conventions of the style. Its horizontal strokes are heavier than the verticals and its top strokes appear slightly heavier than the bottom. Another unusual feature is the family’s uniwidth metrics. All weights and numerals of the family... Read More

This lively sans combines plain shapes with calligraphic touches. FF Sanuk’s roman letterforms are clean and crisply drawn, but their stylish detailing showcases Dupré’s artistic spirit. Modestly sloped, indeed, nearly upright italics convey a contemporary air while maintaining a high degree of legibility. The seven-weight family progresses in tone from a delicate hairline to a chunky fat face,... Read More

In this classic newspaper face, regular and bold weights maintain compatible character widths.

Before designing this font, C.H. Griffith consulted the results of a survey of optometrists regarding optimal legibility. Excelsior font... Read More

With its well-defined characters that are readily legible even in the small font sizes, Mantika Sans by Jürgen Weltin is ideal for typesetting. The elaborately designed and highly individual set of italics enhances the attractiveness of the font.Jürgen Weltin developed the Mantika™ Sans sans serif font using older designs for an serif font as his inspiration. Nothing more than the merest... Read More

Jürgen Weltin's Mantika Informal is pretty difficult to categorize, but very easy to like. This particularly reader-friendly typeface in regular and bold weights, brings to the table the informal fluidity of a script, the consistency of an inclined italic, and the open and airy forms and contrast of a humanist sans. The result is a warm, approachable, and very legible typeface that is never... Read More

This neatly handwritten script maintains consistent widths across its four weights and several stylistic variants.

In 2005, Handsome was one of the first script typefaces to utilize the OpenType format to simulate the natural quality of writing, by... Read More

Especially interesting when stacked in layers, FF ThreeSix possesses a disarming simplicity in a single style.

FF ThreeSix is a vast optical type system consisting of six variants across eight weights, including four additional monospaced weights.... Read More

Every year, more and more text is read directly on a computer screen in office applications, or from freshly printed sheets from a copier or laser printer. Clear, legible text faces are more imperative to office communication than ever before. Yet every worker desires a small bit of personality in the corporate world. Most office environments are only equipped with a few basic fonts that are... Read More

Sabon has identical metrics in its Roman, Italic and Bold weights.

Jan Tschichold designed Sabon™ in 1964, and it was produced jointly by three foundries: D. Stempel AG, Linotype and Monotype. This was in... Read More