Typeface Family for Print and Web
Handwriting as a variable design system with four speeds
Dash Fast is the most gestural of the four writing-speed variants in the Dash connected script system, designed by Petra Dočekalová with contributions from Peter Biľak, Héctor Mangas Afonso, and Sébastien Morlighem at Typotheque. It features a steep incline and highly personal letterforms while remaining readable. The family was grounded in over a year of research into educational handwriting models and the historical evolution of Western handwriting, with language-specific letter variants that switch automatically based on locale.
Set in Dash Fast
Insights
- The project involved more than a year of research into school handwriting curricula and Western handwriting history before type design began.
- Variable sliders control writing speed, letter-spacing intervals, and stroke weight, allowing a continuous shift from generic model script to stripped-down expressive forms.
- Language-specific glyph variants — such as the pen-lifted English 't' versus the continuous Czech 't' — are programmed to switch automatically based on the language in use.
- Typotheque's in-house cognitive psychologist Héctor Mangas Afonso conducted an associated study titled 'Familiarity Effect in the Perception of Handwriting' alongside the design process.
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