There’s more than meets the eye in David Farey’s Cachet® typeface design. It appears to be monospaced – but isn’t. Letters seem to be constructed from straight strokes – but aren’t. One thing that is not deceiving: this is an especially reader-friendly design.
Cachet History
According to Farey, the Cachet design is a “monospaced, monostroke typeface - that isn’t.” Farey’s goal in drawing Cachet was to create a typeface that appeared to be a fixed-pitch design (with characters that all occupy the same amount of horizontal space). He also set out to create a design with geometrically precise character strokes that appear legible and friendly.
At first glance, Cachet appears to be constructed of straight and nearly-straight strokes. A closer look, however, reveals several subtleties. Curved strokes have an almost calligraphic spontaneity. Farey also paid special attention to the places where character strokes joined and to stroke terminals. The former are tapered slightly, while stroke ends have been rounded and somewhat flared. These quiet deviations from the obvious give the design a human, organic and decidedly non-digital look. An added benefit is that the subtle design modulation benefits readability. The result? A design that is distinctive, legible and ultimately reader friendly.
Cachet Usage
Cachet has been used in numerous publications for display copy and short blocks of text. The design’s proportions and distinctive characteristics also make it ideal for branding and logo use. Cachet has the no-nonsense demeanor of many industrial strength sans serif faces, yet it is tempered by an underlying, calligraphic mien and subtle swelling of character strokes.
