Typeface of the Month: Franzi Pro

In September our Typeface of the Month: Franzi Pro is a sans-serif by the Vienna based type foundry Wannatype. 

The new sans-serif Franzi typeface family—as neutral as can be, but at the same time individual and striking. Its unmistakable character lies in the detail, with no effect pushing itself to the fore. As a wide-running typeface with a relatively large x-height (fig. 2), the typeface family is perfectly suited to small text sizes but, with its elegant details, it leaves nothing to be desired in display applications either (fig. 3).

A total of 20 well-developed fonts are available: ten weights from hairline to black, each of which can be upright and italic (fig. 4). The italics are softly and elegantly drawn, while the upright characters appear much more severe. The design appeal reveals itself in the two-storey ‘a’—a tribute to legibility in body copy (fig. 5); however, for those who prefer the geometric in applications, an alternative single-storey ‘a’ is also available (fig. 6).

All styles have small caps, superscript and subscript lowercase letters, lining, non-lining, and small caps figures, fractions as well as several ligatures, alternative fonts, symbols, and arrows. The Latin uppercase letters are also available as discreet swash variants. In addition to the extended Latin alphabet, the typeface family also includes the complete Greek, Cyrillic, and International Phonetic Alphabet IPA (fig. 7). Franzi is always a proper choice for striking poster designs or corporate communication (figs. 8–10).

Franzi was created as a further development of a commission to produce signs for a therapy practice in Vienna’s Franz-Hochedlinger-Gasse— hence the name, which is more common as an abbreviation for Franziska than as a diminutive for the male name Franz: Franzi is therefore a hybrid typeface name which has female tendencies.

Typeface of the Month: Franzi Pro

Foundry: Wannatype
Designer: Ekke Wolf
Release: June 2022
Format: otf, woff, woff2, ttf (variable font)
Weights: Hairline, ExtraLight, UltraLight, Light, Regular, Medium, DemiBold, Bold, ExtraBold, Black
Price per weight / family: € 24.– / € 200.– (complete pack oder variable font)
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