TYPE DESIGN INFORMATION PAGE last updated on Wed Nov 20 11:44:15 EST 2024

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ABOUT

dstype [Dino dos Santos]

Established in 1994, dstype used to offer free fonts but has gone commercial now. It is run by Dino dos Santos (b. 1971, Oporto) from Oporto, Portugal. He graduated in Graphic Design at ESAD, Matosinhos. He received a Masters degree in Multimedia Arts at FBAUP, Porto. MyFonts place. In 2006 he won the Creative Review Type Design Competition in the Revival/Extension Family. At ATypI 2006 in Lisbon, he spoke about Portuguese lettering since 1700. Interview in 2007. Klingspor link. Author of A Letra Portuguesa, a book about Portuguese calligraphy. Dino created these typefaces:

• Access (1997).
• Acta, Acta Display and Acta Poster (2011, +Poster swashes). A didone fashion mag family. First designed for Chilean newspaper La Tercera in 2010, DSType's Acta family is a clean information design type system. It includes Acta Symbols, an extensive dingbat family. Acta Var (2020) has two axes, weight and optical size.
• Acto (2012). Acto is a type system designed as the sans serif counterpart of the previous released Acta. Both type families were designed in 2010 for the redesign of the Chilean newspaper La Tercera.
• Andrade Pro (a modern) and Andrade Script Pro: based on the calligraphy of Andrade de Figueiredo, ca. 1722.
• Anubis (2003): a unicase face.
• Aparo (2013). A plumpish elegant high-contrast script face.
• Apice (2022). A highly structured calligraphic typeface with five optical sizes.
• Apud and Apud Display (2010): a high-contrast serif family.
• Aquila (2004).
• Ardina (2016). Done with Pedro Leal, this text typeface family has three optical sizes.
• Boldina (2004). A fat informal poster family with 18 weights and styles.
• Braga (2011, Dino dos Santos and Pedro Leal). This is a layered font design family. Dino writes: Braga is an exuberant baroque typeface, named after a portuguese city, also known as the baroque capital of Portugal. Our latest typographic extravaganza comes with a multitude of fonts designed to work like layers, allowing to insert color, lines, gradients, patterns, baroque, floral swashes, and many other graphic elements. Starting with Braga Base, you can add any of the twenty-three available styles, to create colourful typographic designs.
• A type system from 2014: Breve News, Breve Display, Breve Slab Title, Breve Sans Title, Breve Title, Breve Slab Text, Breve Sans Text, Breve Text. The Breve system includes modern design elements in the skeleton and ball terminals, transional elements, almost wedge-serifs in the serifed styles. As with most of dos Santos's typefaces, even the sans and slab styles exhibit Latin warmth and exuberance.
• Capsa (2008): a family that was inspired by, but is not a revival of the Claude Lamesle types Gros Romain Ordinaire and Saint Augustin Gros Oeil.
• Ception (2001): a futuristic sans family.
• Cimo (2017). A distinguished condensed sans.
• Cultura, and its improved version Cultura New (2013), a text book typeface family.
• Decline (1996).
• Denso (2019). By Dino dos Santos and Pedro Leal: a great condensed variable font with weight, serif and optical size axes.
• Digno (2022). A fuzzy text typeface family.
• Dione (2003): a sans; redone in 2009 as Dobra at TypeTrust. See also Dobra Slab (2009).
• Enorme (2020). Ultra massive and modular 3000-glyph mastodont of a constructivist font, by Pedro Leal and Dino dos Santos.
• Esta (2004-2005): extensive (transitional) text and newsprint family.
• Estilo (2005): a gorgeous and simple art deco-ish geometric headline face. This was accompanied by Estilo Script (2006), Estilo Text (2007, a 6-style rounded sans family), and later, Estilo Pro (2010, +Hairline).
• Ezzo: a sans family.
• Factor (1997).
• Finura (2009): this typeface has hints of University Roman.
• Firme (2014). A geometric sans for corporate use.
• Fragma (2003): squarish techno family.
• Girga (+Italic, +Engraved, +Banner, +Stencil) is a strong black Egyptian family designed in 2012 together with Pedro Leal at DS Type.
• Glosa (2008): Glosa is a meaty multi-style didone family. Glosa Text and Glosa Headline all followed a bit later in 2008, and Glosa Display in 2009.
• Hades (2012). A yummy and free blackletter typeface.
• Hypergrid (2002): octagonal.
• Ines (2015). A classic 7-style text typeface.
• Isento and Isento Slab (2017). Both are loosely based on ATF's Times Gothic.
• Lucius (Sans, Serif) (2022). The Lucius type family began as an attempt to reproduce the Principios Methodicos para as Letras Aldina e Roman---Typo Portuguez, but went went way beyond that in its multi-faceted execution.
• The Quase family (2017): Quase is a very free interpretation of the types found in the Specimen of Printing Types by William Caslon from 1785. We wanted to start with Caslon and then transform it into an editorial typeface, hence the increase of the x-height and the radical reduction of the ascenders and descenders. Subfamilies: Quase Headline (12 styles), Quase Poster, Quase Display, Quase Text.
• Idem and idem Display (2021).
• Dino dos Santos and Pedro Leal published Jules in the summer of 2015---a fat fashion mag didone 45-style family inspired by several plates from Portuguese calligrapher Antonio Jacintho de Araujo; it comes in Big, Colossal and Epic. They followed up in 2017 with Jules Text.
• Kartago (2005): based on Roman inscriptions from Cartago.
• Keiss (2017) and Keiss Text (2021). A Scotch roman with a lot of contrast. Keiss Text comes in twelve styles and features short descenders and ascenders, along with three very distinct optical sizes. It was designed with contemporary newspapers in mind. In 2021, he added Keiss Title, Keiss Condensed, Keiss Big (14 styles) and Keiss Condensed Big.
• Large (1999) and Large Pro (2006).
• In 2020, Dino dos Santos and Pedro Leal designed Larga, which was inspired by the typefaces shown in the specimens of the Fundiçãao Typographica Portuense from 1874. Larga is a wide all caps family and comes with a variable opentype format.
• Leitura, Leitura Headline, Leitura News, Leitura Sans, Leitura Symbols, Leitura Display (2007): the 31 styles were all made in 2007.
• Logica (2016). A classical text typeface.
• Maga (2012). A text family.
• Methodo (2005): calligraphic penman typefaces.
• Missiva (2004).
• Monox and Monox Serif (1998-2000): a monospaced family.
• Ni Sans, Ni Slab, Ni Serif (2018).
• Musee (2006): a transitional family with ornaments and borders.
• Nerva (2004). A subdued Trajan typeface with flaring.
• Nitida (2017). A 114-font family with five optical sizes.
• Nyte (2012). A serifed text family.
• Otite (1995).
• Outside (1996): grunge.
• Parco (2021). A compact headline typeface with large x-height.
• Plexes (2003). See also Plexes Pro (2006).
• Pluma (2005): a series of three exquisite calligraphic flowing scripts called PlumaPrimeyra, PlumaSegunda and PlumaTerceyra). Inspired by the typographic work of Manuel de Andrade de Figueiredo that was published in 1722: "Nova Escola para Aprender a Ler, Escrever e Contar, offerecida a Augusta Magestade do Senhor Dom Jao V, Rey de Portugal".
• Poesis (1999).
• Pratico UI and Pratico Slab UI (2022).
• Prelo (2008): A sans family for magazines, it has styles that include Hairline, Hairline Italic, Extra Light, Extra Light Italic, Light, Light Italic, Book, Book Italic, Medium, Medium Italic, Semi Bold, Semi Bold Italic, Bold, Bold Italic, Extra Bold, Extra Bold Italic, Black, Black Italic, Slab and Prelo Condensed.
• Priva Pro (2006): a sans family that includes Greek and Cyrillic).
• Prumo (2011-2012). A 92-font family originally created for the redesign of the Argentinian newspaper La Nacion. Released to the public in 2013, it covers low and high contrasts, and has slab serif styles as well as Scotch Roman styles. So, it is more a type system or type collection than one single typeface: Prumo Banner, Prumo Deck, Prumo Display, Prumo Poster, Prumo Slab, Prumo Text.
• Quadricula (1998).
• Quaestor and Quaestor Sans (2004). Roman inscriptional typefaces.
• Recita (2019). A sturdy oldstyle text typeface family.
• Resea (2004) and Resea Consensed: Bank Gothic style typefaces.
• Solido (2012) is a versatile type system with five widths: Solido, Solido Constricted, Solido Condensed, Solido Compressed and Solido Compact. In total there are 35 fonts. In 2020, a variable font was added to Solido. Codesigned with Pedro Leal.
• Synuosa (1999): an experimental typeface showing only the top half of the characters.
• Tecla (2018). After Printype, a typeface developed in the early twentieth century for the Oliver Typewriter.
• Terminal (1996).
• Titan and Titan Text (2003).
• User (2012), User Upright (2012), and User Stencil (2012). Monospace type families.
• Velino (2010): an extensive family including Velino Text, Velino, Velino Condensed, Velino Compressed, Velino Poster, Velino Sans, Velino Sans Condensed, Velino Display (+Compressed Display, +Condensed Display). This didone superfamily is sure to win a ton of awards.
• Ventura (2007): based on the calligraphy of Portuguese calligrapher Joaquim José Ventura da Silva, ca. 1802, who wrote Regras methodicas para se aprender a escrever os caracteres das letras Ingleza, Portugueza, Aldina, Romana, Gotica-Italica e Gotica-Germanica in 1820. It had a "Portuguese Script". Do not confuse Ventura with Dieter Steffmann's font by the same name made many years earlier. Ventura won an award at TDC2 2008).
• Viska (2015, by Dino dos Santos and Pedro Leal) is designed for small print.
• Volupia (2005): a connected advertising face.

EXTERNAL LINKS
dstype
 [Buy fonts]
 [Designer info]
Fontspring link [Buy fonts]
Monotype link
Behance page
Klingspor Museum page
MyFonts search
Monotype search
Fontspring search
Google search

INTERNAL LINKS
Sites with only a few free fonts ⦿ Monospaced fonts ⦿ Type in Portugal ⦿ Commercial fonts (small outfits) ⦿ Unicase type design ⦿ Calligraphic typefaces ⦿ Greek/Coptic ⦿ Cyrillic type design ⦿ Octagonal typefaces ⦿ Very thin (hairline sans) typefaces ⦿ Art deco typefaces ⦿ Penmanship ⦿ Modern style [Bodoni, Didot, Walbaum, Thorowgood, Computer Modern, etc.] ⦿ Dingbats (original) ⦿ Stencil fonts ⦿ Scotch Roman ⦿ Fashion mag typefaces ⦿ Corporate typefaces ⦿ Books on type design ⦿ Caslon ⦿ Typewriter fonts ⦿ Variable fonts ⦿ Type design and constructivism ⦿ Variable fonts ⦿ Dieter Steffmann ⦿