The Akko™ typeface family is the first new design from Akira Kobayashi in a very long time – and well worth the wait.
Earlier in his career, Kobayashi drew original typefaces for several firms, including Adobe, ITC, FontFont, Linotype and TypeBox. Since joining Monotype Imaging’s Linotype subsidiary in 2001 as type director, Kobayashi has been collaborating with luminaries Adrian Frutiger and Hermann Zapf to modernize and reissue some of their well known designs. Kobayashi’s skill and design sensitivity contributed to the success of the reissued typefaces, but the final versions were not solely his creation.
In 2010, Kobayashi began working on a new original – in both senses of the term – typeface family, which started out as “a sans serif type with a ‘soft-focus’ effect.” Kobayashi adds, “From here, the design morphed into two families, Akko, which is robust and structured, and Akko Rounded, which is softer and friendly.” Picture this stylistic fusion: an industrial strength typeface like the DIN Next™ design, blended with an organic design like the Cooper Black™ typeface.
Each version of Akko is available in six weights ranging from thin to black – all with complementary Italics. The family is available as a suite of OpenType® Pro fonts, allowing for the automatic insertion of ligatures and alternate characters. Pro fonts also offer an extended character set supporting most Central European and many Eastern European languages.
Read more about Akko here.
Additionally, the entire Akko Family is available as Web fonts, from Fonts.com Web Fonts.