New Additions: September 2025
30th September 2025
From the hundreds of fonts we add to the Identifont database every month we chose a selection of the most interesting recent additions, and interviewed the designers about their approach to each design:
Veronika Burian – Futura 100 (TypeTogether)
Previously I believe all TypeTogether’s typefaces have been original designs; what led you to work with Bauer Types to produce a new version of the classic typeface Futura?
Typographic history always plays a role in our type projects, but indeed, we have not done a true type revival before. This alone posed an interesting challenge. Futura is an iconic design that remains relevant even now almost 100 years after its first release. We already had a professional relationship with Bauer Types, the original trademark holders of the name Futura, and when discussing the historical moment of Futura’s centennial anniversary, we suggested making the type family into a truly global multiscript family. After all, that is where TypeTogether’s strength lies, in bringing experts together to create typographic solutions for global communication.
There have been several earlier digital reissues of Futura, including Bauer Types’ own version, Futura Next. What will Futura 100 add to these?
It became quickly clear that we could not rely on existing digital versions, and needed to draw the Latin part from original source archive material if we wanted to create a typographic digital product that adheres to current high technical standards. Additionally, the main objective was to enlarge script and language support and to produce a design that is more accurate, powerful, and aligned with current and future digital publishing needs. Clean outlines and a considered design space were essential therefore.
Futura 100 will be available in 23 scripts by the end of 2026 (12 have been released now in September 2025 and the rest in will be 2026, including support for major Indic scripts as well as Simplified Chinese and Hangeul). This will make Futura 100 one of the few truly global typefaces communicating in more scripts and languages than ever before. The September 2025 release includes: Armenian, Cyrillic, Georgian, Greek, Hebrew, Khmer, Lao, Latin, PanAfrican Latin, Thai (these ten with obliques), Arabic, and Myanmar.
We have also included desired typographic niceties: case-sensitive punctuation, small caps, five sets of figures for setting tables or text, geometric alternates, arrows, ligatures, script-specific alternates, and more.
Futura 100 includes a Text style, with shorter ascenders and descenders. What was the thinking behind this, and was there a precedent for it in Paul Renner’s original designs?
Actually, as was common in hot metal, die Bauersche Giesserei produced special cuts for small sizes, down to 5pt. When viewing archive material and letterpress specimens and samples of the 6pt Futura Regular I was amazed at its beauty and legibility. On further review and comparison to the larger samples, we found a clear difference in extender lengths and spacing which was more generous. This makes total sense for smaller type text sizes, since the letter space is optically reduced in small text. The shorter extenders give the letter shapes more traditional vertical proportions and make it thus more readable.
We wanted to bring this quality back into the design of Futura 100, which was possible in most of the released scripts.
There must be some scripts that have stylistic features, such as high contrast, that are incompatible with the distinguishing characteristics of Futura; how do you set about making a “Futura” for such scripts?
Some scripts do lend themselves more naturally to a simple construction, such as Myanmar and others are by default more organic like Arabic or Bengali. However, our intention was obviously not to Latinize other scripts, but to find the best way to interpret Renner’s design intention and apply it to the other writing systems. He wanted to get rid of any superfluous ornamentation and instead create minimalist forms that would still remain legible. This is the reason why Futura continued to be relevant up until today.
In Latin this meant turning to pure geometry of circle, square, and triangle. In other scripts we were not looking at geometry per se, but how traditional letter shapes could be rationalized and constructed without loosing their typographic heritage and cultural meaning. We are pushing boundaries, but always with functionality and the user in mind.
James Griffin – Gratitude (Souvenir Typefaces)
Gratitude is a slab serif with a humanist touch. What prompted you to design it; was it for a particular project?
Gratitude emerged from this idea of creating a typeface with two distinct voices, one mechanical, one warm. I was fascinated by the notion that a slab serif could start quite clinical in lighter weights, then gradually transform into something genuinely expressive. It's this shift from analytical to emotive which I enjoyed and felt resonated with personable, human traits; hence the name.
The conceptual approach was pretty straightforward, beginning with the efficiency of traditional slabs, then progressively introducing the warmth of Elzevir styles as weights increase. What made this most enjoyable as a design challenge was developing a coherent system where this temperature shift feels natural. Each weight needed to maintain the family's core DNA while telling its own part of the story. The technical hurdles were considerable; how do you gradually introduce humanist characteristics without disrupting the geometric foundation? It was precisely these complexities that made the project so engaging to work through.
You've written that you were influenced by the Dutch Elzevir styles in designing Gratitude. Were there any specific sources you referenced?
I was really smitten with the Deberny & Peignot rendition of the Elzevir Gras No 1. There's something strangely awkward and charming about it that I found really interesting. It has these quirky characteristics that shouldn't work together but somehow create this distinct personality. The weight distribution feels almost naive in places, yet there's an underlying sophistication in how it handles curves and transitions. I find Elzevirs to be such an intriguing model that have such a range, yet all feel distinctively warm and it was specifically this, that influenced me to draw something (which later became Gratitude).
Classic slab serifs such as Clarendon and Egyptian 505 didn't include italics. What was the inspiration for the italics in Gratitude?
It's interesting, most modern foundries provide italics as standard, which is another question in itself, but I was drawn to exploring how an italic could act as a genuine companion to the uprights rather than simply filling an expected slot. The challenge was maintaining that same temperature shift while creating something that felt notably charming in its own right.
What excited me was balancing the mechanical nature with those softer sentiments; things like introducing small, cursive flicks on the lowercase while keeping the serifs straight and geometric. This creates that dialogue within the letterforms themselves which I find so interesting: the precise, almost industrial serifs paired with these more organic, humanist gestures. The italic becomes this space where the typeface can be simultaneously systematic and expressive, especially as you move through the weights.
It's about finding those moments where mechanical precision and warm character can coexist, creating something that feels both controlled and genuinely spirited.
Felix Pfäffli – Mov Variable (Studio Feixen Fonts)
To quote your description, Mov Variable is a typeface in which “each letter is a small experiment with its own rules”. What first gave you the idea of creating it?
Whenever we start a new typeface, we go through a long research phase over several months in which we test and compare different concepts. Movement has been a subject that has fascinated us on many levels for a long time. And the fact that every variable font can be animated anyway made us want to explore it in more detail.
But in the end, the actual spark came from a different thought. We wanted to create a typeface concept for ourselves that would never get boring. A side project, so to say. Designing typefaces is, for the most part, hard work. With this concept, we wanted to keep the work as light as possible and the fun factor as high as possible. It was meant to be a typeface we could return to from time to time whenever we felt like it. That’s how the idea came about: a typeface where each letter could have its own concept. We limited ourselves to a very simple grid, which allowed us to design in a very relaxed and fast way. The project then grew naturally, letter by letter, until suddenly it was no longer just a small side project.
Mov Variable has two variable font axes, each of which moves a character in different ways. Are they like axes on a graph, or does the behaviour of each font axis change according to the character?
Every letter has its own rules. Sometimes even we don’t fully understand how the axes interact with each other. Sometimes it works like a three-dimensional axis, sometimes rotations or distortions are part of the movement. We didn’t restrict ourselves at all. It’s fascinating to see how far you can go with just two axes.
In Mov Variable you have not only created variations of each character, but the font also includes seven OpenType Stylistic Sets with yet more versions of each character. Didn’t you ever worry that you might run out of ideas for all the variations, and what did you use for inspiration?
Good question. But no, that was never the problem. If anything, we usually have the opposite problem: too many ideas. That often gets in the way with type projects, which usually take years. We often have to shrink our visions back down to a solid concept, sometimes several times a month. For once, it was refreshing to be able to show a bit more of our way of working.
We simply love to design. Even if we don’t have a clear idea yet, we just start experimenting. For example, by seeing how you could build an ‘A’ out of circles. With these little experiments, you can work quickly. And the nice thing is, you often end up surprising yourself with the results. In fact, while working on this typeface, we designed far more letters than we actually included. Only the ones we liked the most made it into the final version.
Although you provide four static instances of Mov Variable, Mov One to Mov Four, it really comes into its own as an animated variable font, as shown on the Mov Variable page on your site. Do you primarily envisage it being used in video and animations, or do you think designers will take advantage of the variations of each character to create their own custom headings, posters, or logos on the web and in printed materials?
Exactly. The four instances only really show the extremes. The true quality of the typeface becomes visible in all the variations. Still, you can also just use it as a normal display typeface. But as you say, the exciting question is: what will actually happen with it?
Primarily we created it as a statement for ourselves. We wanted to show what is possible with variable fonts when it comes to animation. Personally, while designing it, I often imagined it fitting well for a kids’ TV channel. But in the end, we always understand our typefaces as tools for others, which open up countless possibilities. And that’s why it’s always the best part for us to see how designers actually use them.
One example I really enjoyed was from the Belgian designer Mario De Meyer (see his Instagram page), who used the typeface to create animated patterns. That means he didn’t even use the letters as letters anymore, but as shapes. I would never have thought of that myself.
Keith Bates – Bimble (K-Type)
What gave you the idea of designing Bimble. Was it for a particular project?
No, the typeface wasn't designed for a specific purpose. The idea was simply to make a fun, friendly, rounded typeface. The bold was designed first and the regular and italics followed.
It’s a sign of Bimble’s originality that I can’t find anything to compare with it on Identifont. Were you inspired by any other particular fonts?
I love condensed sans-serif letterforms, so I guess I was influenced by condensed sans-serifs generally. Bimble started as doodles in pencil on paper; some K-Type fonts are drawn wholly on computer, others begin life in a sketchbook. Many K-Type fonts are character sets extrapolated from an existing style or a snippet of lettering, but Bimble was a purely formal piece of experimentation, it was enjoyable, creative play.
Bimble is a bit like an overinked sans serif, except for the ‘B’ and ‘8’ which have gaps where you might not expect them. What gave you the idea for those features?
Regarding the gappy middles of the ‘B’ and ‘8’, it's often the bowl of the ‘P’ that doesn't quite join, but as Bimble progressed and acquired an overexposed quality, these quirks just came about naturally. A font design often seems to take on a life of its own. The unconventional, graduated stroke widths, most notably on ‘M’ and ‘N’, evolved in the same way, as did the dimples at the top and bottom of stems on letters such as ‘D’ and ‘E’.
Did you have any applications in mind when you designed Bimble? Its friendly appearance suggests children’s books or consumer product marketing.
Absolutely, and exactly that kind of usage was in my mind when I created posters to advertise the fonts. I chose a typeface name that suggested that kind of application, one that described the casual, meandering, freeform nature of letters that were narrow yet rather bubbly. Words like amble and ramble led me to the British word “bimble” meaning to wander about at a leisurely pace. At the time I was unaware of an old 90s animation called Bimble's Bucket, and I stumbled on Kieran Gallimore’s Bimble bike-ride videos after completing the fonts.