Lo-Res Outlined

The idea behind this series of fantasy bitmaps began simply enough. Starting with the structure of Lo-Res Nine, a typeface that goes back to the very start of Zuzana Licko's type design career in 1984, she applied a series of outlines of varying weights and styles in order to transcend the impermeability of the solid square bitmap. This experiment created armatures with properties and characteristics of their own, appearing solid, perforated, or overlapping.

Starting out with a thin outline, equal in weight to one sixteenth of the pixel, the outline was then doubled in weight in subsequent permutations, until reaching half of the pixel size. The outlining measurement lends the style name to each font permutation.

Applying a similar logic, but with multiple outlines of equal weight, the next process started with a double outline, which made each line equal to one quarter of the pixel size. Then, doubling the number of outlines with each permutation, Quadruple was made from four outlines of one eight of the pixel size, and Octuple from eight outlines of one sixteenth of the pixel size.

By reimagining the outlined variants as woven structures, and by removing pixels to create the illusion of overlapping, the effect of weaving was conjured. This effect was applied to a selection of the Outlined fonts.

Since they’re all build on the same grid with the same internal structure, these letters can be overlayed to fill and complement each other in multiple combinations and variations.

For more information about Lo-Res Outlined, download the free type specimen.