Rosetta is a foundry that prioritises thorough research, design exploration and multilingual typefaces

In an increasingly globalised environment, attending to a multitude of different languages is becoming more common practice. Rosetta is one of the foundries that has been ahead of the curve. Established 12 years ago, the studio puts “working with global collaborators” at the centre of its work, explains David Březina, Rosetta’s managing director. While it endeavours to enhance typographic language support, it has been consistently providing original, technically refined fonts, breaking grounds visually as well as linguistically. Over the years, such a dedicated and considered approach has resulted in a truly diverse library of typefaces, each with their own unique usage, role and feel; you may know the studio for its classics such as Nassim, Skolar, and Gitan. Recently, it has produced some equally impressive typefaces.

One of the studio’s widely usable designs is Adapter®. A refreshing alternative to Helvetica and similar designs, the minimalist type system offers optical sizes from the highly readable Text to the more impactful Display. That way, the design automatically adapts to your needs. Supporting a vast range of languages and scripts already – Arabic, Cyrillic, Greek, Hebrew and Latin – it is destined to grow through a collaborative design effort. An ideal choice for any global brand.

Rosetta: Adapter Mono (Copyright @ Rosetta, 2023)

Adelphi, designed by Nick Job, is another workhorse worthy of attention. This geometric sans “redefined for the northern side of the English Channel” takes inspiration from Britain’s complex typographic history. “Typographic modernism was a late arrival in Britain — due partly to the Second World War and to the strong local type tradition,” says Nick. “This delay provided for fruitful divergence, thus modernism was not adored in quite the same way as it had been in Germany and central Europe.” And so, rather than having a continental influence, modernism in Britain was built against the backdrop of postwar social reform (and its somewhat bleak weather) to create something more humanist in fashion. Make no mistake, Adelphi isn’t bogged down by tradition. Informed by the past, it is a durable design system, both contemporary and comprehensive in terms of typographic features it provides.

Rosetta’s library also features some more expressive typefaces such as Corsair, Gridlite, Handjet or Sutturah. The last one is a playful, expressive font created with posters and display environments in mind. The typeface is one that has an instant visual impact and wouldn't be amiss on a large billboard, or at the forefront of an identity for an exciting new brand. With joyfully curved edges, the font gives off the impression of being freely hand painted, with a wide paintbrush. Playing with the traditional construction of letters, the typeface explores the boundaries of legibility, without being inaccessible. The result is full of personality and flair; in Rosetta’s words, “a single word in Sutturah can be worth a thousand images”.

So when you’re next looking for a typeface that has been extensively researched, intricately and expertly designed, and even has the potential to make your work multilingual, Rosetta should be a studio sitting at the top of your contact list.

Rosetta: Adapter Mono (Copyright @ Rosetta, 2023)

Rosetta: Gridlite (Copyright @ Rosetta, 2023)

Rosetta: Adelphi (Copyright @ Rosetta, 2023)

Rosetta: Adelphi (Copyright @ Rosetta, 2023)

Rosetta: Sutturah (Copyright @ Rosetta, 2023)

Rosetta: Adapter (Copyright @ Rosetta, 2023)

Rosetta: Adapter (Copyright @ Rosetta, 2023)