Around A

Originally designed for the Mudéjar Hotel in Cali, Colombia. Around is a typeface family based on three essential parameters that draw from many sources of inspiration. 

First parameter: Arab-Influence

The basic idea of the first parameter was to create a formal parallelism between the Arabic alphabet and the Latin alphabet in order to reinforce the concept of the hotel, which incorporates Spanish-Muslim influences and styles. In short, the challenge was to create a typeface family with an Arabic atmosphere, implicitly preserving its essence.

In the first phase, Teshrin, designed by Kristyan Sarkis, was one of the main sources of inspiration due to its rational appearance and the simplicity of its rounded edges. Analogous drawings were made to determine typographic parameters, differentiating aspects, and distinguishing features to incorporate Arabic culture into the aesthetics of the typeface. The letters where the concept of connectivity and continuity, typical of the Arabic script, is best appreciated are a, f, g, t, u, r, and y, the discretionary ligatures li, tt, ti, tti, and tti,* (Around B*) and the letters P and R with a reduced bowl.

Second parameter: Circle, Triangle, Square

Around is also characterised by its aim to connect emotionally with the viewer by evoking a sense of nostalgia. To achieve this, formal references have been taken from early 20th century typefaces such as Elegant-Grotesk, Kabel, Berhold Grotesk, and the iconic Futura typeface designed by Paul Renner. The letters O, b, c, d, o, p, q and s, have been created from strictly circular forms based on the circle, triangle & square, and A, M, N, V, and W have sharp apexes and vertices.

Early 20th century typefaces, with their geometric designs and modernist aesthetics, convey a sense of clarity and simplicity, while typefaces with rounded edges convey a sense of warmth and friendliness. The combination of these two universes creates a perfect balance between technology and humanity, resulting in a typographic system that is adaptable to a wide variety of designs.

Third parameter: Rhythm and balance

For the third parameter, we explore the proportions of the idiosyncratic, classical lettering style of the 'West Berlin' traffic signs, which are based on the legendary Erbar-Grotesk typeface, designed by Jakob Erbar in 1922 and mentioned as having been designed at the same time as the geometric typefaces mentioned in the first parameter.

A distinctive feature of Erbar Grotesk is the way it varies and alternates the proportions of majuscules and minuscules, sometimes subtly narrower, sometimes a little wider. This asymmetrical effect caught our attention and we decided to explore and exploit this resource and incorporate it into the letters E, F, L, T, B, P, R, S, U, n, m, h, and u, which are programmed to change their width according to the user's wishes.

The ambiguous interplay of the counterspace is enhanced when combined with rounded terminals, resulting in a timeless typeface with a strong personality and a very user-friendly aesthetic.

Includes:
+ 5 weights
+ OTF features: Stylistic Set with its respective name in order to improve the font's user experience.

1 Wide majuscules E,F,L,T
2 Wide majuscules B,P,R,S,U
3 P,R with reduced bowl
4 Q,y with straight leg
5 M with splayed legs
6 Disambiguation
7 Wide minuscules h,m,n,u,s
8 Monocular forms a,g
9 i,j with rectangular dots
10 Umlaut alternates Ä,Ö,Ü
11 t with triangle bracket
12 t with tail
13 k with horizontal bar
14 Narrow letters E,F,M,L,T,h,m,n
15 Narrow majuscules B,D,P,R,S

+ Character set that supports Western, Central and Southeastern European languages.
+ Script: latin
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