Horizontype

Horizontype is honest type: the design has no overshoots. No curve dips below the baseline or extends above the x-height or cap height. Its characters sit confidently between the horizontal lines that define their size, lending the design its distinct personality. What makes Horizontype unique, though, is that its inner shapes don’t follow this logic. Round counters exert pressure against steadfast straight tops and bottoms that refuse to buckle. This contradiction creates a fascinating tension, reinforcing the design’s horizontality and propelling the eye along the lines of text. Horizontype’s cuts are not just at the tops and bottoms of the letters. The exterior ends of diagonals and terminals are also clipped. A tightly drawn M and W, and wide I, J, and f with generous horizontal spacing, result in a design with close-to-monospaced proportions. This feature led to the design of Horizontype Mono, a true fixed-width variant. Both families are very close: they have matching weights and identical tabular figures.