Typeface Design for Unica77 Mono

The only authorised digital Haas Unica, now in fixed-width

Unica77 Mono is a monospaced extension of LL Unica77—itself the sole authorised digital revival of Haas Unica (1980), re-mastered by original Team'77 member Christian Mengelt from the team's own drawings. Released by Lineto in 2019, the family spans a wide range of weights with matching italics. A 'low caps' feature—shortened uppercase letters—was developed specifically for the public release, applying across all four cuts and their italics. Latin language support was provided by Viktoriya Grabowska; font engineering and mastering by Alphabet, Berlin.

Set in Unica77 Mono

Insights

Monospaced fonts were uncommon in phototypesetting, so Team'77 did not envision a fixed-width extension at the time of Haas Unica's creation in 1980.
An early customised version with extended x-heights was used for the Alphabet, Berlin website in 2014, predating the public release by five years.
The 'low caps' alternate style—shortened uppercase letters—was created for the 2019 public release and applies across all four cuts and their italics.
The mechanical quality of the monospaced design was found to complement the perceived Swiss neutrality of the Unica typeface.