Client: Comspot

Typeface Design for a Hamburg Hardware and Software Reseller

Typewriter aesthetics engineered around retail numeral needs

Comspot is a rounded, typewriter-influenced sans-serif family designed by Nils Thomsen in 2017, originally commissioned by a Hamburg-based hardware and software reseller requiring attractive numerals and a franchise-ready license. The family spans nine weights with matching italics — Hairline through Ultra Black — in two versions (Comspot and Comspot Tec) that differ in which character set is encoded by default, accommodating varying levels of OpenType support across software.

Set in Comspot

Insights

Typewriter character is concentrated in specific glyphs: f and t carry wide middle strokes, while w, M and W use repositioned centre joints in a tighter design.
Corner rounding is not uniform — it increases progressively from Hairline to Ultra Black, so lighter styles read as elegant and heavier weights as approachable.
The italic is a deliberate hybrid, blending true italic forms with sloped-roman construction rather than committing fully to either convention.
Comspot Tec exists specifically because some software cannot access OpenType stylistic sets; it swaps the monospace-flavoured alternates into default character positions.