Could lone typeface with no serifs be enough for a designer? It is the basis of this seemingly uninteresting question that Damien Gautier really got down to work to develop this typeface with its multiple facets. Thanks to the OpenType format, he first developed 4 series. “Standard”: a set of characters that are intentionally all purpose; “Geometric”: a set of characters with elementary forms that bring to mind the first typographic experiments of the Bauhaus; “Modern”: domesticated forms that refer more to characters such as Futura and Nobel; “Grotesk”: here, more designed/drawn forms close to the intentions that were at the origin of characters such as Helvetica or Akzidenz grotesk. Four typefaces in one to some extent, accessible thanks to the “Stylistic set” function of the OpenType format.

Originally this typeface contained 4 weights and 7 styles: regular and italic, medium and medium italic, bold and bold italic, black. A fifth weight has been added with a light version. A display version – particularly black – was designed, leading to sometimes surprising choices. This version conserves a number of sets of characters and a certain number of alternative letters.

Finally, the demonstration is made: with a single typeface, we can indeed have many possibilities!

Damien Gautier (1971) is type and graphic designer. In 2010, he founded the graphic design studio Bureau 205 and the publishing house Éditions 205. He also teaches graphic design at École nationale supérieure des beaux-arts de Lyon since 2006.