Piet Mono & Sans

Inspired by Finnish licence plates, Piet is a playful pair of constructed typefaces defined by strange numbers and deep, rounded ink traps. Consisting of Mono and Sans, Piet is bureaucratic at first sight, but with a closer look you’ll find the utilitarian hooked up to the weird, the stiff wired to the wonky, and the italics connected to the battery.

Not pretty, nor refined, Piet is unmistakable. Its shapes are practical and almost unbreakable. With chunky forms and more and less than the expected optical corrections, it is functional, visually unbalanced and narrow. With no cruise control on its ever-present idiosyncrasy, Piet turns ‘limitations’ into fuel.

Piet is a pair of typefaces (Demo). If the Mono feels too fixed, change gear with the sans. Originating from the Mono, it has been (sorta!) fine-tuned with proportional spacing, kerning and some gentler forms for easier reading.

The italics of the Mono and the Sans could hardly be more divergent. Where the italics of the sans are simply slanted, the Mono’s demand prominence. All new shapes — even in x, w and z — and a tender touch is infused into the Mono’s fixed widths. With rotated shapes the caps catch the eye and their adherence to the baseline introduces a raw tension visible in the E, L and Z.

Price
260 Euro

Designer
Nils Thomsen