Industry: Design

Typeface Design for PP Museum

Sans-serif with glyphic flares drawn from Optima sketches on aged banknotes

PP Museum is a humanist sans-serif typeface inspired by Optima sketches found on aged banknotes, supplemented by research into vintage tomes, book covers, spines, and museum objects. Subtle terminal flares lend a glyphic quality; those flares diminish progressively in heavier weights to maintain balance across light and bold applications. The family spans nine weights, each paired with true italics that include swashes and decorative terminals—an unusual provision for a sans-serif.

Set in PP Museum

Insights

Terminal flares are weight-sensitive: prominent in light cuts, they recede in bolder weights to preserve typographic balance.
Design research drew on two distinct sources: Optima sketches observed on aged banknotes, and the typography of vintage tomes, book covers, spines, and museum objects.
True italics with swashes and decorative terminals are explicitly noted as uncommon within the sans-serif genre.
Tapered diagonal strokes are cited as a deliberate device for adding visual movement.