CoType Foundry’s first serif Orbikular is a typographic workhorse abundant in character

The sixth typographic release from London-based CoType Foundry sees not only a fresh face, but a fresh footing. Orbikular – the foundry’s first serif – sets out to bridge the traditional and the contemporary with a comprehensive function-first family that greets its audience with both familiarity and originality. A step away from his comfort zone, founder Mark Bloom tells us that “arguably, designing a serif is much more challenging than designing a sans serif but perhaps more rewarding too,” excelling himself straight out the bat, showing an expertise in attention to detail, legibility and contextual understanding. Having worked in Farringdon prior to COVID restrictions, Bloom recalls spending his lunch breaks wandering around the borough looking at the vintage typography scattered across the prolific, time-honoured architecture of the area. Furthermore, on a work trip to New England where he visited Boston, Nantucket, Provincetown and Newport at the end of 2019, Bloom tells us he found himself “being inspired by hand-painted signage and gilded glass type on numerous shop fronts.”