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We’re very proud of this vast update and transforming Diatype into a cohesive, global type family united by the same sharp yet warm flavor. All nine writing systems are now available as expansive variable fonts spanning Thin to Ultra weights, plus there’s a slant axis whenever it makes sense for the writing system.

This was a beautiful, global collaboration with 12 designers spread over six time zones, led by our own Ethan Cohen.

Expanding a Grotesk font like Diatype is its own particular challenge because the concept of a Grotesk doesn’t exist for most writing systems. 

And while the results of a direct visual translation might match visually, the cultural connotations of that visual treatment might not. This makes the small moments that make Diatype “Diatype” tricky to translate—and each of our collaborators came to the task in very different, unique ways. 

Some of our collaborators had a research-led approach. Diatype is based on a phototypesetting typeface from the 1960s, so the Greek and Hebrew typefaces drew from the same era and technology. Similarly, Diatype Thai emerged from reference materials like Thai Letraset.

Diatype Cyrillic, Georgian, Armenian, and Devanagari, however, developed organically, drawing first from Latin design DNA. All these writing systems have their own histories and visual cultures, so design decisions often have different connotations even if they are aesthetically similar across systems. This required a lot of experimentation and testing of subtle changes. Lastly, Diatype Arabic was drawn entirely from scratch to stay true to the Arabic script, making clever visual references to the Latin counterpart.

Below each of our collaborators gives us a little insight into their specific approach...

Diatype Arabic: “The key to our extension was to draw the Arabic in a way that aligns with the inherent softness and fluidity of Arabic calligraphy. For example, the letter meem and all the loop based letters feature a seamless round shape that mirrors the softness present in the Latin. The ligatures, too, embody a rhythm that is both structured and fluid, maintaining a delicate balance between straight lines and smooth transitions. This synthesis allowed us to retain the warmth and approachability of Diatype while honoring the rich traditions of Arabic calligraphy.” — Wael Morcos, Khajag Apelian, and Lana Abou Soufeh

Diatype Cyrillic: “I feel that although Diatype is not very loud, it still has quite a unique voice. When designing Diatype Cyrillic, the most challenging thing was to retain the same balance between simple (even brutal) shapes and warm ones. For instance, I retained the same stiff Latin construction for к (and, based on it, the ж) and then drew on the playful y and j for б, л, and ђ.”— Olga Umpeleva

Diatype Thai Loop and Loopless: “Balancing Thai and Latin textures, particularly in the Ultra weight of Diatype, is challenging in both Thai Loop and Loopless, due to the complexity of the Thai counter shapes. The Thai Loop mimics the o counter shape, thus creating a unique and harmonious connection with its Latin counterpart. Both Thai Loop and Loopless feature their own Schoolbook stylistic set, unique to Diatype. The set adds additional details to both Loop and Loopless styles, which enriches the personality of the design.” — Boom Promphan Suksumek

Diatype Devanagari: “The concept of a Grotesk style doesn’t traditionally exist for the Devanagari script, although it has seen explorations of geometric forms dating back to manuscript eras. The main challenge of translating Diatype's characters into Devanagari was to ensure that the characters didn’t appear cold or unnatural to native readers.”— Kimya Gandhi

Diatype Vietnamese: “Vietnamese orthography is quite different from other Latin orthographies, with both single and double-stacked diacritics for tones. 10% was spent designing the diacritics, and 90% was used for adjusting their positioning, ensuring consistency across all masters, and customizing them for specific combinations, like the tilde on regular and condensed width letters or when combined with other diacritics like the breve or circumflex.” — Đức Cao

Diatype Georgian: “The top priority was determining the character proportions to ensure a harmonious reading experience in a multiscript setting. This led to a lower x-height and slightly thicker strokes, which balanced the ample white space of the rounded counters while preserving the legibility and distinct characteristics of the Georgian script.”—Ana Sanikidze

Diatype Hebrew: “Our way to culturally-translate the ideas of Diatype revolved around mixing old and new technologies. As a starting point, we took an average-quality print from the days of phototypesetting, of an equivalent style (Narkiss Tam). Using interpolations we adjusted the weights to match the design space of Diatype.”—Yanek Iontef & Daniel Grumer

Diatype Greek: “The intention was that if combined in text alongside the Latin, Greek won’t look like a different typeface. As a reference, inspiration was drawn from Swiss typefaces of a similar genre, mainly from the 60s and 70s.”—Panagiotis Haratzopoulos

Diatype Armenian: “The challenge of designing for a genre of Swiss Neo-grotesk origins is continually questioning what sans serif even means for the Armenian script, and it was a constant balancing act. Zooming into a Diatype detail, the serpentine stroke of the ‘a’ creates a distinct teardrop counter—similarly, this shape resonates with traditional forms of ‘Ջջ’, and translating this movement has a cascading effect in various open and closed counters across the Armenian alphabet."—Gor Jihanian

Dinamo Darkroom: 1 File, 9 Scripts

Because each writing system is typically stored in its own separate file, working on global typefaces comes with a huge flood of font files and other data. A nightmare for anyone involved (computers and humans alike).

Every single writing system includes Diatype Latin and Core within its file, so whenever something needed to be fixed in Latin, it needed to be fixed in every individual source file. It got kind of out of control.

To manage this beast, our font engineer Hugo Jourdan developed a new tool that creates just ONE source file for multiple writing systems in Glyphs. Read about his very clever (😘) solution on the Journal:

That’s everything. We can't wait to see what you do with the fonts.

Love,
Dinamo x