Muoto is an extended type family, begun as a collaboration between Matthieu Cortat and the agency Base Design (Anthony Franklin and Sander Vermeulen). Published in 2021, Muoto has now been completed with three new set widths: Ultra Condensed, Condensed, and Extended.
Muoto is the synthesis of a sensitive and human approach to modernist design. This variable sans serif font combines full curves and solid stems, showing that functionalism can actually be warm and softly effective.
With its robust structure and subdued proportions, it evokes organic forms dear to Finnish architect Alvar Aalto, who in 1957 wrote: “we should work for simple, good, undecorated things, but things which are in harmony with the human being and organically suited to the little man in the street.” Muoto embodies this idea while simultaneously responding to contemporary typographic standards with its range of weights (from Thin to Black) and now its four set widths (from Ultra Condensed to Extended), and everything is fully variable!

In 2009, when GVA Studio joined the Base group, it marked the Swiss studio’s entry into a network of international scope. Withtongue firmly in cheek, Base Geneva designed a site to generate posters that played with stereotypes of Swiss style. Basetica “a Helvetica for the 2010s” was designed in this context, commissioned from Matthieu Cortat and distributed by 205TF a few years later.
In 2021, Base Design wished to redefine their typographic identity, and so the studio once again invited Matthieu Cortat to collaborate on a typeface to succeed Basetica.
What came next was a story of debates and questions, of micro-modifications and radical decisions, of discussions and rich debates.

In 2022, Matthieu Cortat began working on a Muoto monospaced extension. By following the same design space as for Muoto, Cortat pushes the limits of the monospaced genre through four width series: UltraCondensed, Condensed, Normal and Extended.
From this program, Muoto Mono family combines original and functional solutions into a coherent system so as to offer designers a typographic tool with greater potential for expression and a wider range of applications. Lastly, the definition
of widths emerges from a typographic and visual logic rather than one based on mathematics, and designers will be able to adjust the set weight thanks to the variable font format.

Latin Uppercases
Latin Lowercases
Accented Uppercases
Accented Lowercases
Standard Punctuation
Caps Punctuation
Figures
Prebuild Fractions
Superiors/Inferiors
Nominators/Denominators
Ordinals
Symbols & Mathematical Signs
Standard Ligatures
Ornaments
Arrows (ss01)

The Seabirds is an homage to the historical legacy of lineals, combining different sub-genres of the sans-serif category within a single typeface.

The project emerged through the study of book covers from the first half of the 20th century—particularly those crafted in the 1930s for the renowned publisher Albatross. They were featuring new and “modern” sans-serifs, most probably contributing to their growing world-wide popularity. Initially conceived as a revival of several well-known typefaces, the evolution of this project involved numerous redesigns to thoroughly appropriate and refine forms that have contributed to the History of Typography. The references that inspired the Seabirds are ultimately plural, diverse, and harmoniously blended for a consistent and contemporary design.

The default set is predominantly geometrical, while the use of OpenType stylistic sets enables a transition from orthogonal to flat terminals, guiding the design to a more humanistic style. The uppercases maintain proportions reminiscent of classic Roman capitals, while revisions to the lowercases have been made to achieve a more balanced and cohesive rhythm. The ratio between ascender height and x-height is deliberately generous to ensure a convincing legibility in body text.

The undeniable value of this project lies in its extensive Latin glyphs set. This means that in addition to the common languages of European origin (which are generally supported in the Western world), the Seabirds covers Vietnamese and languages of African and American origin which use the latin script. To meet the needs of linguists, teachers, academics and researchers, a particular attention has been given to developing phonetic and latin transliteration signs as well.

The name of the typeface, Seabirds, evokes the origins of this project, but also those who travel by land, air or sea.

Latin uppercases
Latin lowercases
Accented uppercases
Accented lowercases
Standard punctuation
Caps punctuation
Proportional lining figures (default)
Tabular lining figures
Proportional old style figures
Tabular old style figures
Prebuild & automatic fractions
Superiors/inferiors
Nominators/denominators
Ordinals
Modifier letters
Symbols & mathematical signs
Standard ligatures
Ornaments
Arrows + circled (SS01)
Tabular arrows (SS02)
Single storey a (SS03)
Single storey g (SS04)
Geometric j t u (ss05)
l with tail (ss06)
Humanistic terminals (ss07)
I serif (ss08)
Alternate tone chinese (ss09)
Vietnamese stacked marks (ss10)
Humanistic numbers (ss11)
Humanistic punctuation (ss12)

Hour, designed by Federico Parra Barrios, is an original typeface that presents both conceptual and technical challenges. It proposes a contemporary interpretation of engraved letters, exploring how we perceive their forms based on the angle of incidence of the sun and the ambient light.

This typeface breaks with a two-dimensional representation of the alphabet. One of the main challenges of Hour was how to portray the texture and depth of lapidary engraving, along with its shadows, under the constraints of Bézier curves. The illusion is created through an interplay of rasters with varying values. Though actually only drawn in black, each letter appears to contain tones of gray.

Hour is a particularly accomplished variable font, despite having only two axes. The first axis, “hour,” determines the angle at which light strikes the surfaces of the letters, similar to a sundial. This axis evolves logically from 0 to 12, with the light appearing to revolve around the letters, generating an infinite number of variations.

The second axis, “okta,” borrows the measurement of cloud cover from meteorology. By varying it, the designer gives the sensation of modifying the intensity of the incident light, as if adjusting the nebulousness and opacity of clouds in the sky. Like the original unit of measurement, this axis extends from 0 to 800: from cloudy to sunny, progressing through clear.

Thanks to its particularly advanced technical development, Hour is a typeface intended for motion design, but can also display its originality when used to compose the title of a book or a magazine.
To try Hour is to adopt it!

Latin Uppercases
Accented Uppercases
Standard Punctuation
Proportional Lining Figures
Symbols
Mathematical Signs
Standard Ligatures
Arrows (ss01)