Biwa Variable Font

Biwa Variable is a new straight-sided family of formally nuanced grotesk typefaces in variable font format. Biwa’s lighter weights feel subdued, cool in tone, and neutral, while the heavier weights are more robust and full of personality. Biwa Variable and Biwa Variable Italic combine the entire Biwa and Biwa Display family, containing both weight and optical size axes so that you can adjust them to look exactly the way you want in any situation.

Developed over the past few years by Ian Lynam and James Todd, Biwa Variable and Biwa Variable Italic are paeans to the immediate moment when phototype arrived on the global scene — partially smooth and partially machined.

Biwa Variable and Biwa Variable Italic are neutral in tone, have enlarged x-heights, and look amazing on-screen and in print.

Each weight is designed to be highly readable in print and on-screen. The italic variations are true italics, having a single-storied italic a and have been designed for smooth, fluid reading and text-setting. Lovingly spaced and kerned, the Biwa family works equally well for text typesetting and for display design work.

Languages supported include Western European, Central, and South European.

The entire family is comprised of a range of weight axes and matching optical size axes that features rounded terminals for large-scale display work.

Sans serif fonts, no matter how neutral they feel, are ultimately formally nuanced. We wanted to add to this legacy, but bring in elements of the grotesks of the Stephenson Blake foundry to add humanizing features, creating a formal and conceptual interplay to delight the senses.

The lighter weights are slightly slimmer than the regular and bold weights to give the typeface more of a vertical feel, inviting readers’ to rapidly read typeset text with a maximum of contrast and a minimum of optical dazzle.

The entire family has been rigorously kerned and spaced for readability on-screen and in print.