> ## Content Index > Fetch the complete content index at: https://folio.ghost-themes.apps.codememory.com/llms.txt > Use this file to discover other available public pages before exploring further. # The typefaces that shaped our year - URL: https://folio.ghost-themes.apps.codememory.com/the-typefaces-that-shaped-our-year/ - Published: 2026-07-27T09:00:00.000Z - Updated: 2026-07-27T09:00:00.000Z - Description: A sign face, a warm book face, a wide display face and a small rounded alphabet we drew ourselves. - Author: Tomás Reyes - Tags: Journal, #Import 2026-09-30 05:40 Every December, we look back at the typefaces that shaped our year. Not the newest or the most fashionable, but the ones we reached for again and again, and the ones that surprised us. This is our list for this year, with notes on where we used them and why. ## A sturdy sans for signs The typeface we used most this year was a sturdy, open sans serif that we chose for the Harbour Line ferry signs. It has wide letters, generous spacing and very clear shapes: the capital I and the lowercase l are easy to tell apart, which matters when someone is reading a pier name from twenty metres away. What we love about it is that it does not try to be interesting. It is the typeface equivalent of a good pair of boots: comfortable, reliable and quietly well made. > The best typefaces for public spaces are the ones nobody notices, because everyone could read them. > > **Tomás Reyes** ## A book face with warmth For the Oxide Books interiors, we tested five text typefaces with real readers. The winner was a book face with slightly heavier strokes than most and a warm, almost hand-made feeling. On screen it looked a little clumsy. On paper, at ten and a half points, it was wonderful: dark, even and very easy on the eyes. This taught us, again, that text typefaces must be judged in print, at the right size, after reading several pages. A single line on a screen tells you almost nothing. ![](https://folio.ghost-themes.apps.codememory.com/content/images/2026/09/type-poster-1.jpg) ![](https://folio.ghost-themes.apps.codememory.com/content/images/2026/09/type-book-1.jpg) ![](https://folio.ghost-themes.apps.codememory.com/content/images/2026/09/type-stamp-1.jpg) A poster, a type specimen and a letterpress block from the workshop. ## A wide display face for the festival Nordlicht needed a display typeface that worked well with movement. We chose a very wide sans serif with simple, geometric shapes. Wide letters have a calm, stretched feeling that suited the slow northern lights, and they stay readable when light passes behind them. We did make one change: with the designer's permission, we added a few alternative letters with softer curves, used only for the festival's name. It is a small detail, but it makes the logo feel like it belongs to the festival alone. 🔤 A tip we learned the hard way: before you commit to a typeface for a big project, check that it includes every character you might need, including accents for every language your client uses. We once had to redesign a whole menu because a typeface had no letter ő. ## A rounded face we drew ourselves For the moss exhibition, we drew our own small typeface: about forty letters, all lowercase, with soft, rounded ends. It was only ever meant to be painted onto wood in short sentences, so it did not need to be complete. Drawing it took Tomás about two weeks of evenings. It is not a good typeface in the usual sense. It would be terrible for a book or a website. But for thirty-word labels painted onto moss trays, it was exactly right, and several visitors asked where they could download it. ![An old shop sign on the way to the studio. We collect photographs of these.](https://folio.ghost-themes.apps.codememory.com/content/images/2026/09/type-sign-1.jpg) An old shop sign on the way to the studio. We collect photographs of these. ## An old favourite Every year, one old typeface comes back into our work. This year, it was a classic serif designed more than a century ago, which we used for the Tidewater coffee labels. It has a slightly old-fashioned, trustworthy feeling, like a label on a jar in a grocer's shop. Paired with the simple contour maps, it gave the bags a calm, honest look. ## How we choose a typeface People sometimes imagine that choosing a typeface is a matter of taste. Taste matters, but most of our choices start with practical questions. Where will the text be read, and at what size? In what languages? On paper, on a screen or on a sign twenty metres away? How long will people read for? Only after those questions have narrowed the list do we think about personality. By then there are usually only three or four candidates left, and we test them all with real content, never with placeholder text. A typeface that looks beautiful setting *the quick brown fox* can look very different setting a list of ferry piers or a paragraph of translated poetry. ### Licences matter One more practical note: always check the licence. A typeface licensed for print may not be licensed for a website, an app or a film. We keep a simple table of every typeface each client uses and exactly what it is licensed for. It is dull work, and it has saved several clients from expensive surprises. ## What we are watching next year A few trends caught our eye this year, and we will be watching them. - **Variable typefaces** that change weight and width smoothly are finally reliable in browsers, and they open interesting doors for motion. - **Wider letters** are everywhere, partly as a reaction to years of tight, condensed headlines. - **Local type foundries** are growing, and more clients are asking for typefaces with a regional story. We will report back next December.