Huai
Positype · Potch Auacherdkul · 2020
A bilingual Latin and Thai sans whose Latin forms are derived from vernacular Thai handwriting, reversing the usual direction of cross-script influence.
About
Designed by Potch Auacherdkul and released in 2020, Huai inverts the common pattern of Thai typefaces borrowing from Latin sans serifs by instead letting Thai vernacular letterforms, specifically the fluid strokes of Bangkok street signage, shape its Latin companion. The family spans six weights from ExtraLight to Black, each with a matching italic, across 24 styles total. Named after the Thai lottery ritual, the typeface carries that cultural specificity into its letter architecture without reducing it to surface ornament.
Classification
Huai's Latin letterforms are derived from vernacular Thai handwritten strokes, producing a warm, humanist sans with organic, fluid proportions rather than the neutral geometry of a grotesque or geometric sans.