The Altame Family

Altame Sans and Slab were developed in parallel, each influencing the other’s direction. The original influences, in addition to 2010s slab serifs, were the various Spiekermann typefaces from the 90s and 00s. After experimenting setting some web typography in Jura, I soon realized I wanted something narrower, squarer, stiffer. Dozens of sketches and iterations and later, Altame is the conglomeration of all its influences: The openness of humanist classics like Frutiger, the angled terminals and squared-off curves of Polo, Meta & Co, Even Clearview left its mark.

Punctuation needed to fit with the angled yet soft forms to feel natural within the typeface. Instead of rounded, the circles shape into a square, stopping somewhere in between (you can call it superellipse if you want).

As a family, the Sans and Serif share a lot details. In the Sans, some shapes (like “i”) retain their serifs, terminating shapes curve out rather than end in a serif. The contrast of the Serif is slightly increased, and the Sans comes in a more muted display variant.

Italics add another voice to Altame, increasing contrast, and to soften Altame’s more square aesthetic, they smooth out some of the shapes, while keeping the overall rhythm.