A geometric sans ready to shakeup the entire industry. What industry?
Comm. Banking
Hospitals & #Care
Toiletry/Cosmetics
Health Insurance
{Pharmaceuticals}
Artificial Intelligence
Retirement “Plans”
(US) Public Schools
& Gas/Petroleum
BESIDES SHAKING UP INDUSTRIES,
POLYMATH is READY and ABLE to
be USED at a WIDE RANGE of SIZES.
THE “DISPLAY” CUT is for LARGE
USAGE: SIGNAGE, LOGOTYPES, etc.
The MIDDLE OPTICAL SIZE is for
EVERYTHING! MULTIPURPOSE USE.
Last, the “TEXT” VERSION is for...
PLEASE DON’T MAKE ME SAY IT.
Polymath comes in three optical sizes for paragraphs, headlines, and everything in between. Polymath doesn’t specialize or discriminate. It simply elevates and legitimizes while imbuing trust, optimism, and unbridled joy :)
What we saw with Degular (2020) was interesting. We tried to make a neutral grotesque for text and display. Over and over, we noticed designers using Degular for headlines, and pairing it with Roboto, Montserrat, and other sans serif choices that told us it was still too outspoken.
In an effort to explore something more usable, we approached the genre du jour with love, respect, and an eagerness to bring something new to the table. Taking (artful, nuanced) inspiration from Paul Renner’s Futura, we approached that through the use of stylistic alternates. Everything old is new again.
The alternates in Polymath begin with giving a more legible option to designers with conservative clients—an escape hatch for the folks looking for a tail on j, l, and t, and a seriffed capital I.
Of course we included the double story a and g. This isn’t too crazy, but still it’s always impressive to me how much changing these two (pretty common in English) letters can alter the texture of a paragraph.
But that is still the tip of the proverbial iceberg. Beyond the “legibility” and double-story forms, we have a few Bauhausian alternates, as well as some options for the capital M with diagonal sides.
The “gaspipe” alternates trade gradual, soft curves for abrupt and blunt ones. These only apply to f, g, l, and t, and are admittedly most noticeable in the Display Light, but for the sake of consistency (and interpolation) all styles have all the alternates.
With those boring ones out of the way, we can move onto the more unique forms like the uncial-style a, and a g that can only be described as “squiggly.” Luckily, it’s a word with two sequential g’s. What a world!
You might not believe it, but there are even more alternates. I know, it’s over the top. There are even small caps and a few sorts of figures, but that’s enough for now. Suffice to say, if you want it, need it, and use it, it’s in here.
Polymath was drawn by James Edmondson, Colin M. Ford, and Jamie Otelsberg between 2021 and 2024.
