Pangram Pangram launches new foundry with Pokémon-style trading cards

Off Type is the latest project from Pangram Pangram, an experimental offshoot foundry that brings together Mat Desjardins and Barcelona-based type designer Valerio Monopoli – a long-time collaborator of Pangram Pangram. Its first nine typefaces launch with a campaign from Bureau Borsche, turning each font into a distinct creature with its own trading card, in the vein of early Pokémon decks. The fonts are available to try for free today (16 May) through the Off Type site.

The sister foundry will produce typefaces that are purposefully offbeat, referring to itself as a “weird foundry”. A release explains that this entails offering creatives “silly”, “inquisitive”, “exploratory” and “fun” fonts that still place a premium on craftsmanship. It also aims to provide an eclectic mix with its library.

In its very first Instagram post, Off Type explains that for Mat Desjardins the idea for a new foundry “brewing for a while”. It continues: “A place where you could find really, really well-made types that are more crazy, experimental and silly. He didn’t want to blur the lines between Pangram Pangram’s workhorse-forward approach to the library. This is where the idea for Off Type came to be. [...] Valerio’s type work is always fresh and unique so it just made sense to unite for this project. We selected nine of his most recent/weirder sketches and started this long journey of creating this new foundry.”

Designer Sergio Lairisa and London-based creative practice Studio Ground Floor worked with Off Type on the launch campaign. Together with Bureau Borsche, the creatives imagined extended concepts for each font, turning them into “characters that make up their own realm”. Each typeface is available to try for free today (16 May).