Amilia_v2

Story

Look, I’m all for change. But, I’m not sure adding high contrasts to every sans typeface, just to avoid creating more Helvetica clones is the answer—though it sounds admittedly enticing.

Amilia_v2 is a sans-serif typeface based on the american form principle. It features high stroke contrasts, a high x-height, and prominent uppercase letters.

I designed the original version for a character that could be described as artsy, internationally minded, and with a little bit of a short fuse. In order to translate these traits into typography I decided for Amilia to go with a sans serif. Because of the “International Style”—established during the 50s–60s of the last century—sans typefaces (in particular Helvetica) tend to be ascribed a universal and international appeal. The “Global Style”—a term coined by Jeffrey Keedy [Keedy, 2001, p. 37–42] —revived that grid- and Helvetica-based style in the last decade and rededicated it from global business into a signature suijet of the art and cultural industry. In that regard I thought it fitting to use these associations with Amilia.

With that being said, Helvetica with its static and balanced shapes seemed too cold for Amilia. That’s why I opted to go with a type design based on the American form principle or gothic sans as described by Lilo Schäfer. [Schäfer, 2019, p. 68] I personally found gothic sans often harbored a certain quirkiness that relieved them of the stiffness that is inherent to grotesque sans typefaces. I picked this form principle because the high contrast would mirror the somewhat jumpy temperament of Amilia. Additionally I thought a form principle that is inherently American without the imperial undertones of homogenized global business would underline her interest in the wider (at least western) world.

Features

Standard Ligatures

Stylistic Sets

Glyphs

Latin

Diacritics

Numbers

Symbols

In-Use

Published in:

—Typodarium 2025—

Download Options

If you want to use the typeface for a university project or a trans-related project contact me.