Typeface Design for Lineto

Condensed without compression: every glyph individually redrawn

Designed by Robert Huber (2024–25) and released by Lineto in 2025, with font engineering and mastering by Alphabet, Berlin. LL Geigy Cond Duplex adapts the original LL Geigy's proportions to a narrower format through individual letter redesigns rather than mechanical compression. The family applies the duplex principle—shared glyph widths across all weights and styles—to a condensed typeface, an approach the studio describes as charting new territory. Both LL Geigy Duplex and LL Geigy Cond Duplex are released as variable fonts.

Set in LL Geigy Cond Duplex

Insights

All letterforms were individually redesigned rather than derived by scaling, with proportions, curves, and counters manually adjusted to retain optical balance at the reduced width.
The duplex principle—identical glyph widths across all weights and styles—enables weight transitions without text reflow, offering a different mechanism than conventional variable fonts for screen and animated type applications.
Applying the duplex principle to a condensed family extends a mechanism historically explored in hot-metal typesetting into variable font technology.
As variable fonts, both families support precise grading and finely tuned weight combinations in static and animated contexts.