Typophile

Searching for a normal "a"

koodoz

Hey fellow typophiles,

This is my first post, but have been an avid outsider for some time and must confess that this is by far the best Typograpy related site on the interweb. Kudos to the creator(s) and members!

So... my first post comes in the form of a request for help. I’m struggling to find a not-so-popular font that is similar to Century Gothic and Avant Garde (both having an ’a’ shaped the way most people would normally handwrite it, e.g. circle with stick to the right (Apologies for my lack of correct terminology))

The typeface will be used for body copy, so it would need to have a large variety of weights and of course, be easy to read in large chunks of text. I would also prefer if the font was slightly condensed (not as wide as Century Gothic).

To add, I’m also not a fan of Avant Garde’s ’s’ being so squooshed.

Thanks,

Koodoz

‹ TipoGrafica Signage ›
Chris Lozos

Avenir?

ChrisL

koodoz

Hey dezcom,

Nice avatar. As for Avenir, that has the wrong kind of ’a’.

Thanks anyway :)

Chris Lozos

Futura condensed?

ChrisL

Chris Lozos

Mark Simonson’s Proxima Nova. There is a condensed version, too.

http://www.ms-studio.com/FontSales/proximanovacond.html#

There are alternate “a” glypph with both single and double bowl.

ChrisL

Chris Rugen

A single bowl sans appropriate for body copy is a tough find. But I agree with dezcom’s suggestion of Proxima as a good choice, with Futura as another route. Though a true condensed face would be tough at full line lengths.

Stephen Coles lays the single-storey a smack down in this Typophile thread, giving plenty of options. Also, check out Malcom. It’s less geometric, but could be nice.

koodoz

Excellent. Thanks for the thread link Chris. I’ll report back if I find anything that tickles the fancy.

koodoz

Chris, I love Malcom - but I’m unsure that it will work with my heading typeface Lane Narrow. I’m not sure the tapered tops and tails are complimentary.

I’ve also had a look at Super Grotesk C which is the best I can find, but it’s still not spot on.

Futura is ok... but also, not a perfect candidate.

Maybe I’m being too fussy :(

guifa

Maybe the closed form is normal to your handwriting ... but the open form is quite normal in mine :)

«El futuro es una línea tan fina que apenas nos damos cuenta de pintarla nosotros mismos». (La Luz Oscura, por Javier Guerrero)

Chris Rugen

Koodoz,

I suggest you exercise caution when pairing headline and body faces that are very similar, but not identical. Typically, your headline and body faces should either be of the same family or contrast in a pleasing manner. This is why sans headlines are often paired with serif text.

Anyway, I hope you find what you’re looking for. I wouldn’t worry about the ’a’ style not matching unless you’re actually trying to convince the reader they’re the same type family. Frankly, Lane matches the structure of grotesques like Helvetica more than geometrics like Avant Garde. It’s possible you’re losing the forest for the trees in matching type.

One quick note: Lane is a free font. The others we’re recommending are not. Just something to keep in mind for your budget.

typovar

It looks as if you are looking for an upright italic.
I tried TypeNavigator by FontShop. These typefaces are not for free.
Just some suggestions

FF Advert
FF Berlinsans
FF Letter Gothic Text italic
FF Quadraat Sans Italic
FF Schulbuch

Ayita (pdf-file)
Miramonte (pdf-file)

Edit: Today I saw another nice one: Arta

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