LTR Beowolf
LettError · Erik van Blokland, Just van Rossum · 1990
The original randomised typeface from LettError, in which no two characters are ever identical across three degrees of random variation.
About
Released in 1990 and documented in the LettError manifesto in Emigré #18, Beowolf was one of the first typefaces to use PostScript programming to randomise its own outlines at print time, producing letterforms that shift with every instance. Three degrees of random control how wildly the forms deviate, from subtle to restless. It remains a landmark in the history of generative typography.
Classification
Beowolf is a display typeface defined by its randomised letterform outlines, making it uncategorisable by conventional style; its significance lies in its algorithmic unpredictability rather than any historical type classification.