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© GABSRR 2026
A typeface that
reads itself backwards.
01
FORMFONT is a display typeface built entirely from scratch — starting from lowercase, breaking the convention that uppercase is always simpler. Every letter is constructed on a 6×6 modular grid using only circles and semicircles as building blocks. The concept comes from the Spanish palindrome ¿Somos o no somos? — a phrase that reads the same forwards and backwards. This symmetry became the DNA of the typeface: forms that mirror themselves, curves that return to their origin, a visual rhythm that never breaks.
Uppercase has always been the starting point in type design — it is simpler, more geometric. Starting from lowercase was a deliberate decision to complicate the process, to force new solutions. The circle and semicircle became the only tools. Everything else followed from that single constraint.
Every type design textbook says start with uppercase — H, O, I. They are simpler, more geometric, easier to systematize. I did the opposite. Starting from lowercase forced me to solve harder problems first: the curves of a, the descenders of g, the asymmetry of b and d. It made the process harder, and the result stronger.
¿Somos o no somos? reads the same forwards and backwards. This symmetry became the conceptual backbone of the typeface — forms that mirror themselves, a rhythm that returns to its origin. The circle embodies this perfectly: it has no beginning and no end. Every letterform in FORMFONT carries this idea of return.
Working within a strict grid is a form of creative discipline. The 6×6 system meant every decision had to be justified: why does this stroke end here? Why does this curve start at this point? The grid became a collaborator, not just a tool. It made every letter accountable to the same underlying logic.
FORMFONT was never meant to be a text face. It was designed to be seen large — on posters, covers, headlines. At small sizes the circular geometry becomes noise. At large sizes it becomes architecture. The typeface only reveals its full logic when it has room to breathe.
