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Azbuka Alternatives
See also: Patacio
The Azbuka™ typeface family has its roots in a fairly pedestrian source. “The idea came in part from an old sign in London that read ‘SPRINKLER STOP VALVE’,” says Dave Farey, designer of the typeface. Like all good sign spotters, Farey took a photograph of the sign and filed it away for possible use in a lettering or typeface design project. In Prague a number of years later, the street signs reminded Farey of the London signage - and his camera came out again. Comparing the two back in his studio, he realized that the signs from London and Prague were not as similar as he initially thought. However, they were enough alike to serve as the foundation for a no-frills, 21st century sans serif typeface family.“I wanted to draw a wide range of weights, italic and condensed designs all in one go,” recalls Farey, “rather than add on to the family later.” His goal was to create a family that could be used for text and display copy, with sufficient weights to provide a broad typographic palette. Indeed, the completed design, created in collaboration with fellow type designer Richard Dawson, consists of twenty typefaces in eight weights ranging from extra light to extra black. The five mid-range designs have complementary italics. Seven condensed designs round out the family.Azbuka’s lighter weights perform remarkably well in blocks of text composition. “They’re clean and legible - and perhaps a little boring,” says Farey, “but they are perfect for copy with a down-to-earth, yet contemporary flavor.” The heavier weights are equally well suited for a variety of display uses. The designs are authoritative but not overbearing and will readily make a strong statement without calling attention to themselves. The condensed weights of Azbuka are ideal for those instances where you have a lot to say - and not much room to say it.The name Azbuka? It’s Russian for “alphabet.” And what more appropriate name could there be for this utilitarian, industrial-strength type family than alphabet?The Azbuka family is available as a suite of OpenType Pro fonts. Graphic communicators can now work with this versatile design while taking advantage of OpenType’s capabilities. The Azbuka Pro fonts also offer an extended character set that supports most Central European and many Eastern European languages
FF Bau is a large workhorse family of sans serif typefaces drawn in the “Grotesk” genre. Christian Schwartz is its designer, working... Read More
Originally drawn for a logotype, the FF District Bold style was completed in 2001. For French designer Albert Boton, it was refreshing to work in this style, and to tinker with the weight and the limitations peculiar to this kind of family. The rounded corners and subtle details gave the design stylishness and personality. First released in 2002 as part of FF Bastille Display family (together... Read More
Before it was FF Kava, the five-weight family you see here started out as a free font family called Kaffeesatz, published by Yanone in 2004 during the early days of his type design career. The bold weight was drawn from a variety of coffee house lettering from the 1920s, while its lighter weights were done with the purpose of bridging the gap to contemporary design applications. A black weight... Read More
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FF Info is named after its purpose: the transfer of information. Its clean lines make no fashion statements, nor do they attempt any... Read More
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Myriad® was designed in 1992 by Robert Slimbach, Carol Twombly, and the design staff at Adobe Systems. It's a humanist sans serif... Read More
Zemestro is a straightforward design that is meant to be read. According to its designer, Dave Farey, "There's nothing calligraphic about it, and there are no defining or identifiable single characters -- it's just clean and simply constructed."Farey's goal was to create a more legible and friendlier typeface than those limited to single character and stroke widths. The face finds its... Read More
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FF Good is a straight-sided sans serif in the American Gothic tradition, designed by Warsaw-based Łukasz Dziedzic. Despite having... Read More
The Slate typeface family melds superb functionality and aesthetic elegance into a remarkable communications tool. Few typefaces possess the beauty and power of this design.Slate is the work of Rod McDonald, an award-winning typeface designer and lettering artist. At one point in his forty-year career, McDonald participated in a typeface legibility and readability research project conducted by... Read More
Linotype Ordinar, from Swedish designer Lutz Baar, is part of the TakeType Library, chosen from the entries of the Linotype-sponsored International Digital Type Design Contest 1999 for inclusion on the TakeType 3 CD. A headline type, this font is available in regular, italic and double weights. The figures are based on the form of a rectangle. The forms on the base line are relatively large... Read More
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Basic Commercial is a font based on historical designs from the hot metal typeface era. It first appeared around 1900, and was created by... Read More
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Vialog is a large and versatile sans serif family consisting of four weights of roman with corresponding italics, each with small caps... Read More
The Handel Gothic™ typeface has been a mainstay of graphic communication for over 40 years - all the while looking as current as tomorrow. Designed by Don Handel in the mid-1960s, and used in the 1973 United Airlines logo developed by Saul Bass, Handel Gothic was an instant success when released to the graphic design community. Its generous lowercase x-height, full-bodied counters and square... Read More
Similar in design to Franklin Gothic, News Gothic was one of a number of sans serif faces manufactured by American Type Founders in the early years of the twentieth century. Initially cut as a light sans, heavier versions were made in the 1940s and 50s along with some condensed weights. The News Gothic font family offers an uncomplicated design that is well suited for use in newspapers and... Read More
Check also: Patacio
The aim with this enhancement of Hans Reichel’s mega-popular FF Dax typeface was to balance the contrast so that the letters would work... Read More
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The first cuts of Trade Gothic were designed by Jackson Burke in 1948. He continued to work on further weights and styles until 1960... Read More
FF Enzo is a vigorous Scandinavian sans. Drawn by Swedish designer Tobias Kvant, the family comes in five weights from Thin to Black, each complete with companion italic. Inspired by past and present type styles, the face achieves a unique look; this mix of various sans serif design currents creates a quite contemporary, lively texture. The design features a high x-height with particularly... Read More
The spark behind the creation FF Hydra family came from observing 19th and early 20th century French poster lettering. Its designer Silvio Napoleone found that the styles of this period combined whimsical, economic, and impactful qualities. A typeface that incorporated these characteristics could be especially relevant to today’s design aesthetic. Naploeone began by sketching an extremely... Read More
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