Typeface Design for Lineto

From a single specimen sheet to a fully overhauled type family

Lettera Text is a proportional typeface designed by Kobi Benezri and Lineto, first released in 2011, derived from LL Lettera Mono. That monospaced predecessor traces back to Candia, a typewriter font Josef Müller-Brockmann designed for Olivetti in 1968 for use with their golf ball typewriter. Following archive research in Ivrea and Zurich after 2012, both the monospaced and text versions were substantially revised and re-released in 2019.

Set in LL Lettera Text, LL Lettera Mono

Insights

The 2011 release was based solely on a single-cut specimen sheet Benezri encountered while working on a Müller-Brockmann monograph.
Post-2012 archival research revealed two distinct source layers: Müller-Brockmann's sketches showing adaptation of Akzidenz Grotesk, and Olivetti's technical drawings documenting the engineers' modifications.
Both the monospaced and text versions were overhauled over several years following these findings and re-issued in 2019.
Font engineering and mastering was handled by Alphabet, Berlin.