Description

Radiolar is inspired by Jost Mediæval (Antiqua & Kursiv), designed by Heinrich Jost and published by Ludwig & Mayer in Frankfurt in 1927 — a moment that marked a turning point in typography, when the very way typefaces were conceived and constructed came into question. Erbar (1926) had appeared just before, Kabel (Rudolf Koch) the same year, and Futura (Paul Renner) followed in 1928 under Jost’s direction at Bauer. Jost Mediæval, described as “an artistic work of several years”, sought to move beyond the excesses of 19th-century classicism by taking incredible and audacious steps toward modernism, engaging with the ideals of elementary typography and pure objectivity. It seems to be the first serif typeface to embody this utopian idea, notably through its proportions and its “a” reminiscent of the emerging geometric lineals. Jost Mediæval presents both a calligraphic heritage and a rational pursuit of geometry and standardisation. Radiolar takes up this unfinished utopia and carries it into the present. Radiolar, named after spherical marine micro-organisms whose skeletons are built from intricate and spiky spicules, seeks to answer this question. Its forms carry the warmth of calligraphy and the rationality of geometry, oscillating between complexity and simplicity. Radiolar is designed to be both distinctive and versatile, performing well in small text sizes, and optimised for both print and screen.

Languages

Afrikaans, Albanian, Asturian, Asu, Basque, Bemba, Bena, Breton, Catalan, Chiga, Colognian, Cornish, Croatian, Czech, Danish, Dutch, Embu, English, Esperanto, Estonian, Faroese, Filipino, Finnish, French, Friulian, Galician, Ganda, German, Gusii, Hawaiian, Hungarian, Icelandic, Igbo, Inari Sami, Indonesian, Irish, Italian, Jola-Fonyi, Kabuverdianu, Kalaallisut, Kalenjin, Kamba, Kikuyu, Kinyarwanda, Koyra Chiini, Latvian, Lithuanian, Lower Sorbian, Luo, Luxembourgish, Luyia, Machame, Makhuwa-Meetto, Makonde, Malagasy, Maltese, Manx, Meru, Morisyen, Northern Sami, North Ndebele, Norwegian Bokmål, Norwegian Nynorsk, Nyankole, Oromo, Polish, Portuguese, Prussian, Quechua, Romanian, Romansh, Rombo, Rundi, Rwa, Samburu, Sango, Sangu, Scottish Gaelic, Sena, Serbian, Shambala, Shona, Slovak, Slovenian, Soga, Somali, Spanish, Swahili, Swedish, Swiss German, Taita, Teso, Tongan, Turkish, Upper Sorbian, Uzbek (Latin), Volapük, Vunjo, Walser, Welsh, Western Frisian, Yoruba, Zulu

Charactersets

MacOS Roman (Standard Latin)
MacOS Central European Latin
MacOS Celtic
MacOS Croatian
MacOS Iceland
MacOS Romanian
MacOS Turkish
8859-1 Latin-1 Western European
8859-2 Latin-2 Central European
8859-3 Latin-3 South European
8859-4 Latin-4 North European
8859-9 Latin-5 Turkish
8859-10 Latin-6 Nordic
8859-13 Latin-7 Baltic Rim
8859-15 Latin-9
8859-16 Latin-10 South-Eastern European
MS Windows 1250 Central European Latin
MS Windows 1252 Western (Standard Latin)
MS Windows 1254 Turkish Latin
MS Windows 1257 Baltic Latin