Typeface Design for Educational Handwriting
One year of handwriting research distilled into a variable script with four speeds
Dash Slow is the most restrained of four writing-speed variants within the Dash connected script system, developed by Typotheque after more than a year of research into educational handwriting models and the documented evolution of Western handwriting. The system supports variable expression, allowing users to adjust writing speed, letter spacing, and weight via sliders. Language-specific letterforms switch automatically, drawing on observed regional handwriting preferences, and are supported by an in-house study on the familiarity effect in handwriting perception.
Set in Dash Slow
Insights
- The project involved documenting region-specific letter preferences—e.g., Spanish writers crossing the minuscule q, Czechs writing t without lifting the pen—and encoding these as automatic language-sensitive alternates.
- Typotheque's in-house cognitive psychologist Héctor Mangas Afonso conducted a formal study, 'Familiarity Effect in the Perception of Handwriting,' to underpin the design decisions.
- Variable axes cover writing speed, inter-letter interval, and stroke weight, allowing a single font to simulate a spectrum from careful schoolbook script to stripped-down expressive handwriting.
- The Dash family was designed by Petra Dočekalová, with contributions from Peter Biľak and Sébastien Morlighem, and font engineering by Roberto Arista; the family received a D&AD 2024 Wooden Pencil.
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