Quynh Huong Nguyen

I have always wanted my first typeface to be a book typeface. So I took the opportunity at TypeParis 2023 to create the most complete version what I wanted to do. I understand when it comes to designing a book typeface, everything has to be simple. I don’t get to play around with the serif much, but in return, my focus is shifted to the typographic attention: evenness of color (texture), harmony in proportion and weight distribution, spacing between the letters and between the words.

Athias is born in Paris, summer 2023. Inspired by the concept of Trinite typeface family by Bram de Does (1934-2015), Athias comes in two variations of ascender to accommodate basic Latin language and most importantly, the underserved Vietnamese language. The typeface family is specifically design to suit book’s settings with high legibility in small text sizes. Recognizing the unique features of the Vietnamese language, Athias provides full Vietnamese alphabet in its secondary ascender, including diacritics and tone marks, ensure clarity and the nuances of Vietnamese literature are accurately represented. The design feature is classical with humanist letterforms and Roman capitals that comes in harmonious balance, resulting in a visually pleasing and culturally appropriate reading experience. Athias is the ideal typeface for Vietnamese educational books, faciliting an engaging experience for students, educators and literature enthusiasts.

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