Typeface Design for Supleix
Superellipses on the inside, angles on the outside
Supleix is a sans-serif typeface by Jean-Baptiste Levée, released in 2024, built around the tension between angular outer forms and curved countershapes. Levée applied Lamé curves (superellipses, named after French mathematician Gabriel Lamé) to the interiors of letterforms after finding that smoothed outer curves produced results that were too round—a paradox characteristic of his design practice. The typeface carries traces of American Gothic and Teutonic grotesk traditions within a mathematical, geometric methodology.
Set in Supleix
Insights
- Lamé curves are applied specifically to countershapes rather than outer strokes, while outer forms remain angular.
- Flared terminals appear on round letters (C, G, J, S, a, c, e, g); flat terminals on f, j, and t reinforce a mechanical, constructed quality within the same face.
- Numeral 4 features an inward round upper-left corner stem; uppercase D carries unexpected serifs—two distinct departures within an otherwise geometric system.
- Supleix continues Levée's geometry-paradox series alongside Tesseract, Constellation, Stunt, and Minotaur.
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