Rejuvenating the sans-serif.
Multi is Laura Meseguer's extensive typeface family. It was originally commissioned by the publisher of Dutch regional newspapers in 2011, with the aim to match the serif typefaces (Lexicon by Bram de Does and Tiempos by Kris Sowersby) used for a comprehensive layout overhaul project supervised by editorial art director Luis Mendo. The keywords provided by the client were unequivocal: warm, dynamic, optimistic, friendly, human…
Two series were designed, Multi Text (two weights, roman & italic) and Multi Headline (six weights, roman).
Since the completion of this first version, I have considerably expanded the character set and the family, and implemented a few modifications: Multi Text now comprises three weights (roman & italic) and Multi Headline was renamed Multi Display (seven weights, roman & italic).
Like most of Laura's typefaces —Rumba, Magasin, Lalola—, vitality bursts forth from Multi. It has a distinctive ‘phrasing’ (in the musical sense), neither humanist nor glyphic, somewhere in between, exploring uncharted territory. The design is pragmatic, yet not rigid, slightly tinged with tiny incised touches.
This is clearly noticeable in Multi Display: the roman lowercase’s asymmetric stems are very softly tapered, with bevelled, sharp upstrokes. Furthermore, all weights consistently share these idiosyncrasies from Thin to Poster. With the lower contrast, wider proportions, shorter ascenders and descenders, Multi Text was purposely adjusted to meet all the requirements of a legible typeface. It also has a few new features, such as the outstrokes of the roman ‘l’ and the italic ‘a’, which bring a subtle calligraphic feel to the text flow.
Sturdy and fancy, bold and breezy, Multi can transform words and sentences into bangs and whispers!
Multi™ is available in two series: Multi Display and Multi Text.
Multi Display consists of seven roman weights with their italics: Thin, Light, Regular, Medium, Bold, ExtraBold, and Poster. Multi Text consists of three roman weights with their italics: Regular, SemiBold and Bold. All the fonts comprise special characters designed for specific language requirements. They are optimized as webfonts, and the Multi Text fonts are manually hinted. The main purpose is to bring a fresh and strong personality to print and online publications.
Multi Display consists of seven roman weights with their italics: Thin, Light, Regular, Medium, Bold, ExtraBold, and Poster. Multi Text consists of three roman weights with their italics: Regular, SemiBold and Bold. All the fonts comprise special characters designed for specific language requirements. They are optimized as webfonts, and the Multi Text fonts are manually hinted. The main purpose is to bring a fresh and strong personality to print and online publications.
Multi in use