TF, 2 letters that signify at the same time Type Foundry and Typographie Française (French Typography). 205TF is a type foundry that brings together the work of independent typeface designers, some of them well known, others closer to the beginning of their career, all highly talented. Each of them developing characters where a certain French spirit can be felt. 205TF is a foundry on a human scale, and beyond the distribution of their work, it supports typeface designers by making their creations available to a wider audience, allowing for greater recognition of their work.
205TF makes a choice of quality: a small number of creators, a precise selection of characters. The number is of little importance, the quality however is essential.
All of the characters are developed according to common standards (set standard, set pro and set spécial). The typefaces have – at a minimum – an extended set of characters (Latin extended) and this allows them to be used for compositions in a wide range of languages. With an Opentype format, they provide access to specific characters such as small capitals (according to the characters), different series of figures (aligned, old style, proportional and tabular), ligatures, fractions, etc.
This format allows access to specific typographic settings according to the characters. - For the group of characters – functions “All caps”, “Case sensitive punctuation”, “Tabular lining figures”, “Tabular old-style figures”, “Proportional old-style figures”, “Ligatures”, “Fractions”, “Ordinals”, “Contextual alternates”, “Localized forms”, etc.
For certain characters — “Small capitals”, “Capitals to Small Capitals”.
The presentation and interest of each function are detailed in the typeface specimens that can be downloaded for each typeface.
The groups of characters function with both MacOs and Windows platforms and have been tested for Office and Adobe applications. They can then be easily installed on the vast majority of computers and the direct transfer of a file that uses 205TF typefaces from one platform to another and from a Macintosh version of software to a Windows version of software is a process which is seamless.
For cases involving a specific and/or proprietary operating system or specific software, please contact us directly.
Team
Rémi Forte, Foundry Manager
As Foundry Manager, Rémi Forte supports 205TF’s type designers in the development of their projects. He is also in charge of the foundry’s communication and customer relations.
Alongside his work for 205TF, Rémi is developing a practice-based research thesis in the TransCrit Research Unit (University of Paris 8), which follows his studies at the École nationale supérieure des beaux-arts (ENSBA) in Lyon, and Atelier national de recherche typographique (ANRT) in Nancy.
He also teaches graphic design and typography.
Damien Gautier, Founder and Partner
Cofounder of 205TF in 2017, Damien Gautier is codirecting the foundry’s operations and contributing to the catalogue as a type designer. His typefaces are available exclusively at 205TF, such as Maax, Plaak, Plaax, Alcalá or Beretta.
Florence Roller, Founder and Partner
Cofounder of 205TF in 2017, Florence Roller is codirecting the foundry’s operations. She leads with Damien Gautier the graphic design studio Bureau 205 and the publishing house Éditions deux-cent-cinq. Coauthor of 3 manuals on visual identity, posters and typography, she holds a degree from the École supérieure des Arts du Rhin in Strasbourg (HEAR).
New releases are carefully selected every year by the team and its advisory board, comprised of Matthieu Cortat, Thomas Huot-Marchand and Alice Savoie. They stand for a level of quality that our customers deserve and look for.
Matthieu Cortat is a type designer. He has designed several custom typefaces for clients, such as Eastpak, Caran d’Ache, the City of Lausanne, the Terminal Four at JFK Airport in New York or the TV channel Eurosport. He is Head of Master Type Design at the University of Art and Design Lausanne (ECAL). His typefaces are exclusively available at 205TF, including the most recent ones Zénith, Cosimo, Helvetius, Yorick or Molitor.
Thomas Huot-Marchand divides his time between teaching, type design and graphic design. Since 2012, he is Director of the Atelier national de recherche typographique (ANRT) in Nancy. A former resident of the Académie de France in Rome – Villa Médicis in 2006–2007, then at the Hoffmitz Milken Center for Typography of Pasadena from May to July of 2019, he is now living and working in Besançon, where his activity as a Graphic Designer has developed mainly in the cultural sector. He has been a member of the Alliance Graphique Internationale (AGI) since 2010. The typefaces of Thomas Huot-Marchand are exclusively available at 205TF, such as Album, Garaje, Minérale or Minuscule.
Alice Savoie is an independent type designer and researcher. She holds an MA and a PhD from the University of Reading. As a practicing type designer she has collaborated with international foundries and design studios. Her recent type design works include Faune, an award-winning typeface family for the French Centre national des arts plastiques. She teaches at ANRT in Nancy (France) and ECAL in Lausanne (Switzerland). 205TF distributes her typeface Romain 20.
Charly Derouault, Alexis Faudot and Federico Parra regularly collaborate with the foundry as graphic and type designers.
Roxane Gataud did work with 205TF from 2016 to 2020 as a type designer and font engineer.
Thomas Leblond, a graphic designer, participated in the creation of the foundry in 2017.
We look forward to possible font proposals. Please do not hesitate to contact us for sharing your projects.
Could lone typeface with no serifs be enough for a designer? It is the basis of this seemingly uninteresting question that Damien Gautier really got down to work to develop this typeface with its multiple facets. Thanks to the OpenType format, he first developed 4 series. “Standard”: a set of characters that are intentionally all purpose; “Geometric”: a set of characters with elementary forms that bring to mind the first typographic experiments of the Bauhaus; “Modern”: domesticated forms that refer more to characters such as Futura and Nobel; “Grotesk”: here, more designed/drawn forms close to the intentions that were at the origin of characters such as Helvetica or Akindenz grotesk. Four typefaces in one to some extent, accessible thanks to the “Stylistic set” function of the OpenType format.
Originally this typeface contained 4 weights and 7 styles: regular and italic, medium and medium italic, bold and bold italic, black. A fifth weight has been added with a light version. A display version – particularly black – was designed, leading to sometimes surprising choices. This version conserves a number of sets of characters and a certain number of alternative letters.
Finally, the demonstration is made: with a single typeface, we can indeed have many possibilities!
With the efficient and precious help of Roxane Gataud and Corentin Moyer.
Lowercases
Stylistic set
Geometric (ss02)
Modern (ss03)
Grotesk (ss04)
Standard Punctuation
Caps Punctuation
Default Figures
Proportional Lining Figures
Proportional Old Style Figures
Tabular Lining Figures
Tabular Old Style Figures
Prebuild & Automatic Fractions
Superscripts/Subscripts
Nominators/Denominators
Ordinals
Symbols & Mathematical Signs
Standard Ligatures
Accented Uppercases
Accented Lowercases
Ornaments
Arrows (ss01)
This standard corresponds to a set of characters that respond to the Extended Latin standard. It allows for the composition of a large majority of Western European languages. To do this, signs have been added to the standard latin alphabet, either through use of diacritic signs, or through construction of specific signs. The Extended Latin standard does not contain specific Cyrillic or Greek characters. The detail of the characters available for each typeface is presented in the typeface specimen that you can download from our website.
The list of languages in which it is possible to compose is in the specimen.
Could lone typeface with no serifs be enough for a designer? It is the basis of this seemingly uninteresting question that Damien Gautier really got down to work to develop this typeface with its multiple facets. Thanks to the OpenType format, he first developed 4 series. “Standard”: a set of characters that are intentionally all purpose; “Géométrique”: a set of characters with elementary forms that bring to mind the first typographic experiments of the Bauhaus; “Moderne”: domesticated forms that refer more to characters such as the Futura and the Nobel; “Grotesk”: here, more designed/drawn forms close to the intentions that were at the origin of characters such as Helvetica or the Akzidenz Grotesk. Four typefaces in one to some extent, accessible thanks to the “Stylistic set” function of the OpenType format.
Finally, the demonstration is made: with a single typeface, we can indeed have many possibilities!
Cyrillic Uppercases
Greek Uppercases
Lowercases
Cyrillic Lowercases
Alternate for Serbian and Macedonian (SS05)
Alternate for Bulgarian
Greek Lowercases
Standard Punctuation
Caps Punctuation
Proportional Lining Figures
Proportional Old Style Figures
Tabular Lining Figures
Tabular Old style Figures
Prebuild & Automatic Fractions
Superscripts/Subscripts
Nominators/Denominators
Ordinals
Symbols & Mathematical Signs
Standard Ligatures
Accented Uppercases
Accented Cyrillic Uppercases
Accented Greek Uppercases
Accented Lowercases
Accented Cyrillic Lowercases
Accented Greek Lowercases
Ornaments
Arrows (ss01)
Geometric (ss02)
Modern (ss03)
Grotesk (ss04)
This standard corresponds to the Standard set to which are added specific signs depending on each typeface (alternative signs, stylistic signs, etc.) The detail of the available characters for each typeface is presented in the typeface specimen that you can download from our website.
Molitor, designed by Matthieu Cortat in 2019, is a modernist yet joyous typeface; a dive into an Art Deco pool, named after the eponymous and emblematic building in Paris. Theatrical and spectacular, Molitor recalls an adventurous, fresh and optimistic modernism, an iridescent wave on the chlorine surface of an olympic pool.
A lineal with barely contrasted and slightly flared lines, Molitor features 12 styles separated into two optical sizes: Text and Display. Each optical size has a roman and an italic in Light, Regular and Bold. In the text version, the proportions of the capitals obey the canons of the imperial roman capital, reinterpreted in the manner of the modernist stone-cut inscriptions of the 1920s and 1930s. The lowercase letters have a traditional structure with a short x-height. In its display version, the proportions of Molitor are exacerbated, approaching the dramatic spontaneity
of French Art Deco.
While the straight and oblique lines only extend in height, the round shapes expand in all directions. With a design different from the wider and much more playful regular, the italic of the Molitor is quite typical. Despite its sharp 16° slant, it retains rigorously circular round shapes. Finally, as Art Deco gave the general public access to the “geometric avant-garde”, Molitor allows users to define their own size and style thanks to variable font technology.
Lowercases
Standard Punctuation
Caps Punctuation
Proportional Lining Figures
Proportional Old Style Figures
Tabular Lining Figures
Tabular Old Style Figures
Prebuild and Automatic Fractions
Superiors/Inferiors
Ordinals
Symbols and Mathematical Signs
Standard Ligatures
Accented Uppercases
Accented Lowercases
Arrows
Ornaments
This standard corresponds to a set of characters that respond to the Extended Latin standard. It allows for the composition of a large majority of Western European languages. To do this, signs have been added to the standard latin alphabet, either through use of diacritic signs, or through construction of specific signs. The Extended Latin standard does not contain specific Cyrillic or Greek characters. The detail of the characters available for each typeface is presented in the typeface specimen that you can download from our website.
The list of languages in which it is possible to compose is in the specimen.
Muoto, designed in collaboration between Matthieu Cortat, Anthony Franklin and Sander Vermeulen (Base Design), is the synthesis of a sensitive and human approach to modernist design. This variable sans serif font combines full curves and solid stems, showing that functionalism can actually be warm and softly effective.
With its robust structure and subdued proportions, it evokes organic forms dear to Finnish architect Alvar Aalto, who in 1957 wrote: “We should work for simple, good, undecorated things, but things which are in harmony with the human being and organically suited to the little man in the street.” Muoto embodies this idea while responding to contemporary typographic requirements, with its palette of weights (from Thin to Black) and its increased on-screen legibility.
Type design flourishes when associated with a goal, a project. And like every design project, it is enriched by discussion and exchange. Muoto emerges from a collaboration between Matthieu Cortat, Anthony Franklin and Sander Vermeulen, two members of the studio Base Design.
In 2009, when GVA Studio joined the Base group, it marked the Swiss studio’s entry into a network of international scope. With tongue firmly in cheek, Base Geneva designed a site that generated posters that played with stereotypes of Swiss style. Basetica “a Helvetica for the 20th century” was designed in this context, commissioned from Matthieu Cortat and distributed by 205TF a few years later.
In 2021, Base Design wished to redefine their typographic identity, and so the studio once again invited Matthieu Cortat to collaborate on a typeface to succeed Basetica. What came next was a story of debates and questions, of micro-modifications and radical decisions that resulted in the concept and strong connotations transmitted by this new corporate typeface for Base Design.
Latin Lowercases
Standard Punctuation
Caps Punctuation
Default figures
Proportional lining figures
Tabular lining figures
Prebuild & automatic fractions
Superiors/inferiors
Nominators/denominators
Ordinals
Symbols & Mathematical Signs
Standard Ligatures
Accented Uppercases
Accented Lowercases
Roman numerals
Small caps roman numerals
Ornaments
Arrows (ss01)
Thin punctuation (ss02)
This standard corresponds to a set of characters that respond to the Extended Latin standard. It allows for the composition of a large majority of Western European languages. To do this, signs have been added to the standard latin alphabet, either through use of diacritic signs, or through construction of specific signs. The Extended Latin standard does not contain specific Cyrillic or Greek characters. The detail of the characters available for each typeface is presented in the typeface specimen that you can download from our website.
The list of languages in which it is possible to compose is in the specimen.
Tifo takes its inspiration from the lettering that can be found on the banners brandished by the most fervent tifosi (supporters) during football matches.
Emerging in Italian stadiums in the early days of the Years of Lead, these supporters showed their support for their favorite team using banners, chants, and smoke bombs.
Initiated by Roman Tronchin in 2021 as part of the ECAL’s Master’s degree in Type Design, the Tifo typeface comes in five styles: Roma, Venezia, Bologna, Palermo, and Milano.
Romain Tronchin developed this typeface by carefully examining tifosi fanzines from the 1970s and 1980s, with each variant corresponding to a different style of lettering.
Some “oddities” visible in these vernacular sources–which could rightly be considered as typographic errors–were intentionally conserved. They provide Tifo with a singular and authentic character that is part of a long-standing tradition of typically Italian public lettering.
The five styles of Tifo share the same underlying frame, but each one “wears its own colors”!
With a geometrical construction, and a design reduced to elementary forms, the Roma (with square counterforms), Venezia (with its rectangular outlines and circular counterforms), Bologna (outline), and Palermo (stencil) styles are four versions clearly intended for titling, designed to be used in large sizes.
The Milano style, whose design is closest to the type family’s frame, is a polyvalent version that can be adapted for use as both titling and running text.
All of the styles share the same proportions, thus allowing graphic designers to easily combine the five versions in their compositions.
Latin Lowercases
Accented Uppercases
Accented Lowercases
Standard Punctuation
Caps Punctuation
Default Figures
Proportional Lining Figures
Tabular Lining Figures
Prebuild & Automatic Fractions
Superiors
Nominators/Denominators
Ordinals
Symbols
Mathematical Signs
Standard Ligatures
Ornaments
Arrows (SS01)
Tifo Venezia SS02: E G 2 5
Tifo Palermo SS02: A M m V v W w
Tifo Bologna SS02: A M m V v W w
Tifo Milano SS02: Z z 7
This standard corresponds to a set of characters that respond to the Extended Latin standard. It allows for the composition of a large majority of Western European languages. To do this, signs have been added to the standard latin alphabet, either through use of diacritic signs, or through construction of specific signs. The Extended Latin standard does not contain specific Cyrillic or Greek characters. The detail of the characters available for each typeface is presented in the typeface specimen that you can download from our website.
The list of languages in which it is possible to compose is in the specimen.