For the fourth installment of ‘The Type Corner’, Lazy Blog’s space for type lovers. Once again, during this scorching summer, I’ll do my best to give you an overview of some new fonts and emerging foundries that I hope will prove useful for your upcoming projects.
Alberto Perera – August 9, 2026
A few months have gone by, and it’s finally time again for a good tour through fonts and foundries. Work certainly hasn’t slowed down in the meantime — those who follow me know Rebus is going full steam ahead — but every now and then it’s nice to carve out a little space to look at typefaces with a freer eye, without the constraints of a specific project.
This time too, I’ve put together a selection of five fonts. I’m a big fan of these in particular — I’ve had my eye on them for a while, but only recently took the time to really dig into them.
These are typefaces that differ from one another in history and inspiration, but that share a real attention to detail and the ability to hold their own in both minimal projects and bolder solutions.
Enough chatter, let’s get started!
Articoli consigliati
1. Walter Neue
Walter Käch was a Swiss graphic designer and teacher, as well as the author of what Print Magazine called “the most influential typography manual you’ve probably never heard of.”
The book, Schriften Lettering Ecritures, dates back to 1949 and was truly influential for many designers, including Adrian Frutiger and Emil Ruder, who both had Käch as a teacher.
It was also the starting point for Walter Alte and Walter Neue, two typeface families that sit somewhere between a revival and a tribute to Käch’s work: Alte stays faithful to the studies in the book, while Neue expands and adapts them for digital use.
They were developed by ABC Dinamo, a foundry based in Berlin, and Omnigroup, a Swiss design and typography studio: one has its letters practically everywhere by now, the other feels right at home in museums, books, and exhibitions.
On top of the typographic work, they gave us another gift: they reprinted Käch’s manual, which you can now purchase here.
2. FT Aktual
Formula Type is the foundry founded by Italian graphic and type designer Piero Di Biase, an AGI member since 2017. If you don’t know it yet, now’s the time to take a look.
The typeface I’d recommend starting with is FT Aktual, a contemporary grotesque designed by Alberto Moreu (also an AGI member), which I personally rank alongside Gerstner Programm and ABC Diatype among my favorite sans serifs.
Studios like Porto Rocha, Tillack Knöll, and Studio MUT have chosen it for some of their projects. But Aktual is just one of the catalog’s strengths — a small, carefully selected range of families, each with a distinct quality and touch.
And if that’s not enough, they also offer an All-In-One license — one of those things we designers know comes in very handy.
3. TWK Ghost
Can you draw a serif typeface starting from the Wu-Tang Clan? Of course you can.
TWK Ghost, named after Wu-Tang member Ghostface Killah, is an elegant serif designed by Nolan Paparelli and released by WELTKERN.
With seven weights and sharp, pointed serifs, it moves effortlessly from large headlines to small body text. I first spotted it in the visual identity of an AI platform for lawyers, then again in the branding of a lighting studio — it’s one of those typefaces that adapts remarkably well to very different contexts.
If you’re after a contemporary serif with a bit more edge, this one’s worth trying.
4. Exposure
Federico Passa Barrios is a graphic and type designer who took a photographic concept and turned it into a variable font. That’s how Exposure came to be.
It ranges from weight -100 to +100: at one end the typeface nearly dissolves, at the other it pushes past its own outlines until it overflows. An idea that evokes both print bleed and photographic exposure adjustment. You can read more about it here.
I’ve come across it in several projects over the past few years. One of the best examples, in my view, is the identity of Koto studio’s Substack newsletter.
5. Koko
Monkey Type is the foundry co-founded by Mitch Paone, founder of studio DIA and one of the most visionary designers of his generation, who sadly passed away just this year.
Among my favorite typefaces from them are Banana Grotesk (fantastic name) and Koko, a slab serif that draws on the great classics while somehow managing to feel incredibly contemporary.
If you work in publishing, magazines, or just want to have a bit of fun with typography, give it a look.
And that’s it for this installment. I’ll leave you to explore the foundries, browse the specimens, and try out a few trials. See you next time!
Alberto Perera is a graphic designer and content creator, co-founder of Rebus and an explorer of themes related to the world of design. Author of La grammatica del graphic design (Gribaudo, 2025), on his Instagram profile (@alberto.redko) he shares content dedicated to publishing and graphic design: recommending books and authors, telling stories about the great voices of international design, and retracing the history of logos and brands we all know.