Glot Round: A Flared Terminal Sans Serif From Wordshape
Originating in New York but now living and working in Tokyo, Ian Lynam runs Wordshape with Thien Huynh. Wordshape is a type foundry and publisher that operates as a boutique type foundry that synthesizes the pair’s love for writing, publishing, sharing, and creating meaning.
Ian discovered his love for type design when he was a teenager in the late 80s. He’d spend hours listening to punk and hardcore music, subscribing to zines that were filled to the brim with interesting typography. He later went on to study graphic design after high school, getting a bachelor’s degree from Portland State University and his masters in graphic design from CalArts.
His foundry and studio operates “at the intersection of graphic design, design education, and design research,” specializing in identity, cultural research, and typography. Wordshape has worked with notable international brands that include Adidas, Adobe, Casio, Google, NASA, Nike, Red Bull, Universal Films, and Warner Brothers, to name a select few.
The foundry and studio crafts custom type designs for clients of all sizes and industries, but also designs fonts for the retail marketplace. Their library is constantly growing, consisting of designs that relate to the studio and its associated projects.
One of its most recent releases through YouWorkForThem is Glot Round, the softer side of its sibling and predecessor, Glot.
The Glot family is a sans serif marked by its flared terminal structure. Inspired by a blend of proportions from “Roman square capitals and hyper-readable sans serifs with slightly rounded corners,” the family grew from work that Wordshape did for the gaming industry.
“After designing the house typefaces for a handful of the most predominant multi-player online games out there, we decided that it was time to bring the battlefield to the people,” they said. While the original Glot carries itself with intention and a more serious demeanor, Glot Round offers a little more warmth through its characters.
This contemporary sans serif type design speaks with absolute clarity and a friendly tone. Available in Light, Regular, Medium, Bold, and Black with corresponding italics for each, it provides a wide range of options to suit design projects of all kinds.
Glot Round works beautifully in bold signage and displays, headlines, editorials, body copy, publishing, website designs, mobile applications, logos, product packaging and informational inserts, merchandise, apparel, marketing materials, mobile applications, and of course, video gaming.
Fractions, ordinals, and superscript are available through OpenType. When “one needs a hint of danger,” stylistic alternates provide ornamental spiked alternate characters like those found in its sibling.
Glot Round extends multilingual support to Central, Eastern, and Western European languages for ample accessibility in designs intended for an international audience.
Wordshape currently offers more than 30 products through YouWorkForThem, providing an incredible variety of typefaces to suit design projects of all kinds. Visit their portfolio to take a look at the rest of their work and bookmark it so you can check back for new additions in the future!
