Swordfish
CAST · Giulio Galli · 2023
An all-caps geometric display face by Giulio Galli that marries 1920s avant-garde letterform proportions with a jumping baseline borrowed from 1950s jazz record cover typography.
About
Drawing on typefaces such as Erbar-Grotesk, Futura and Kabel, as well as their 1970s phototype successors like ITC Plaza, Swordfish pairs varied-proportion geometric capitals with an OpenType jumping-baseline feature that animates the text in a manner typical of bebop-era album cover lettering. A suite of swash capitals, discretionary ligatures including nested letterforms, and wide Latin language coverage extend its versatility for signs, posters and menus. The single Regular weight keeps the offering focused entirely on display and titling applications.
Classification
An all-caps geometric sans designed explicitly for display use, drawing on 1920s–30s avant-garde letterforms with varied proportions and a jumping baseline feature derived from jazz record cover typography. The display orientation and OpenType jumping-baseline feature push it firmly into display rather than general geometric sans territory.