About
Thierry Blancpain is a founder of Grilli Type.
SourceFounded
- Grilli Type · 2009 · Source
In their own words
It wasn’t great though, so luckily I never completed it.
Turns out it was very easy to add too much of either and I had to go back and forth to really find the right amount of each of those aspects.
In the end I’m a graphic designer and the typefaces I make should be eminently useful to my colleagues, but also provide something that hasn’t yet been expressed in the world of type.
GT Era questions how a typeface could counter that by being a tool for both expression as well as just being a really useful tool for typesetting across all font sizes.
GT Flaire is the mullet of typefaces – business in the front, party and subversion in the back.
The tension between the utilitarian basic family and the exuberant extra family drives this design.
Articles & interviews3
- Grilli Type’s GT Era brings an early Bauhaus chic back to the serif
The article introduces GT Era, a new variable typeface from Swiss foundry Grilli Type, designed by co-founder Thierry Blancpain. Inspired by 19th-century grotesks and early Bauhaus aesthetics, the typeface balances warmth and functionality for both display and text use. The launch includes a primary-coloured website showcasing the typeface’s expressive yet practical design approach.
- "Top New Typefaces for Designers, September 2025"
Creative Boom’s September 2025 roundup by Tom May highlights eight new typeface releases that blend historical inspiration with modern functionality. The article showcases global multiscript projects, expressive display fonts, and modular experiments from leading foundries such as TypeTogether, Grilli Type, and Lineto. It emphasizes the ongoing trend of balancing personality and utility in contemporary type design.
- "Grilli Type Launches GT Flaire: The Typeface with Business Class and Party Flair"