The geometric sans serif is a highly successful typographic genre. The rhythm of repeating square, circular, and triangular shapes comforts us. Because the genre is so popular, it’s also very crowded. The abundance of existing geometric sans serif designs makes it difficult to bring something new to the table. Sometimes, it seems as if the same archetypes are being rehashed over and over again. However, a stylish, dependable geometric sans is an excellent thing to have in your typographic arsenal. Creating an original geometric design presented a fun challenge, as a certain familiarity in key letterforms is required. If their design looks too eccentric, the type family loses its primary purpose: reliability and versatility.

We managed to find a fresh approach to Rund. It is built on sound traditional, friendly, and functional foundations, taking cues from eternal classics like Neuzeit Grotesk, Futura and Avenir, but with something special added to the mix for making it more unique and a worthy new entry in our type library. Rund’s curved strokes have subtly concave terminal shapes, as if they were cut off by a large circle. The concave stroke endings are similar to those found in the typeface Optima.

Ivar began with the idea of creating a serif companion for Siri. During its development, it became apparent that typographic siblings don’t necessarily need to have a uniform design. After three years of drawing and perfecting the letterforms, the only shared characteristics that remain are the shapes of the terminals.