Ruder Plakat Maxi
Lineto · Hans-Christian Pulver, Arve Båtevik, Anatole Couteau · 2022
A digital revival of Emil Ruder's 1950s wood-type poster font, extended by Hans-Christian Pulver and completed at Lineto with a variable version.
About
Originating from wood letters developed with students at the Allgemeine Gewerbeschule Basel in the early 1950s, the typeface was first proofed for archival purposes by long-time typography teacher Hans-Christian Pulver, who later reworked it digitally at 77. At Lineto, Arve Båtevik refined the drawings and expanded the character set, while Anatole Couteau produced the variable version and the Maxi extension, all in close consultation with Pulver. The design's defining quality is its formal severity: no calligraphic trace, near-total alignment, and letterforms that read as if assembled from a grid of modular elements.
Classification
A revival and digital expansion of Emil Ruder's wood-type poster font, characterised by strict modular construction, absence of calligraphic influence, and grid-based letter architecture — placing it firmly in display sans territory.