Lineare Serif by Eduardo Tunni

Typefaces of 2007 index »

Oh, how I love these capitals! They are very humane and finely crafted, it seems they must have originated in hand drawn sketches. However, they are not calligraphic in any way, nor chiseled — indeed, they do not seem to have any traditional roots at all. A highly original design that does not imitate anything.

The most curious thing about this typeface is the extremely heavy serifs. It seems to be an experiment that tries to find out how far you can go when reducing the contrast, even making the serifs heavier than the main strokes. It seems that Eduardo Tunni tried to compensate for the additional weight from the serifs by giving the regular a rather light appearance, which is a pity. In the smallest sizes the face look a bit weak although its basic design would make it well suitable for use in typical text sizes.

Lineare is certainly an interesting option if you are interested in something witty rather than perfectionist, something that is original without being too eye-catching.

— Tim Ahrens is a type designer and architect based in Oxford, UK. His Lapture typeface received an honorable mention on Typographica’s list in 2005 and he contributed an essay about the design that year.