442px
1
-0.025
Scaled
328px
1
-0.046
185°
328px
1
-0.046
GPS
287px
1.10
-0.042
WorldViewAltitude 4%Micro.Pixel
160px
1.12
-0.006
LOWDiskSPACEMaximalist 36 kB #GEOGRAPHICFIELD❷ACCESS
110px
1.24
-0.004
Img;RADARSAT-1 32 PixelsLowres 16bit M(TAI-UTC81)Sentinel 32m ↕ ALTITUDE;JPGFrames/s: 13 Spotlight 30°18'E 5°24'N Disk SPACE
77px
1.18
0.002
ELEVATION AXIS Hi—ACCURACYONLINE LOCATEPIXEL PER INCH ZOOMING AREA3S.HEMISPHERE
77px
1.18
0.028
256 MEGABYTES OCEANS, LAND; AND ICE—56 Kb MEASURE/RATE: & ANTIALIASINGATMOSPHERIC?
33px
1.30
0.005
A pixel is generally thought of as the smallest single component of a digital image. However, the definition is highly context-sensitive. For example, there can be "printed pixels" in a page, or pixels carried by electronic signals, or represented by digital values, or pixels on a display device, or pixels in a digital camera (photosensor elements). This list is not exhaustive and, depending on context, synonyms include pel, sample, byte, bit, dot, and spot. Pixels can be used as a unit of measure such as: 2400 pixels per inch, 640 pixels per line, or spaced 10 pixels
33px
1.30
0.012
Satellites looking toward Earth provide information about clouds, oceans, land and ice. They also measure gases in the atmosphere, such as ozone and carbon dioxide, and the amount of energy that Earth absorbs and emits. And satellites monitor wildfires, volcanoes and their smoke. All this information helps scientists predict weather and climate. The information also helps public health officials track disease and famine; it helps farmers know what crops to plant; and it helps emergency workers respond to natural disasters.
19px
1.45
0
As in all cylindrical projections, parallels and meridians on the Mercator are straight and perpendicular to each other. In accomplishing this, the unavoidable east–west stretching of the map, which increases as distance away from the equator increases, is accompanied in the Mercator projection by a corresponding north–south stretching, so that at every point location the east–west scale is the same as the north–south scale, making it a conformal map projection. Conformal projections preserve angles around all locations. Because the linear scale of a Mercator map increases with latitude, it distorts the size of geographical objects far from the equator and conveys a distorted perception of the overall geometry of the planet. At latitudes greater than 70° north or south the Mercator projection is practically unusable, because the linear scale becomes infinitely large at the poles. A Mercator map can therefore never fully show the polar areas (as long as the projection is based on a cylinder centered on the Earth's rotation axis; see the transverse Mercator projection for another application). The Mercator projection maps all lines with constant bearing (rhumbs (mathematically known as loxodromes—those making constant angles with the meridians) to straight lines. The two properties, conformality and straight rhumb lines, make this projection uniquely suited to marine navigation.
19px
1.45
0.008
Normally, the software in a computer treats the computer’s display screen as a rectangular array of square, indivisible pixels, each of which has an intensity and color that are determined by the blending of three primary colors: red, green, and blue. However, actual display hardware usually implements each pixel as a group of three adjacent, independent subpixels, each of which displays a different primary color. Thus, on a real computer display, each pixel is actually composed of separate red, green, and blue subpixels. If the computer controlling the display knows the exact position and color of all the subpixels on the screen, it can take advantage of this to improve the apparent resolution in certain situations. If each pixel on the display actually contains three rectangular subpixels of red, green, and blue, in that fixed order, then things on the screen that are smaller than one full pixel in size can be rendered by lighting only one or two of the subpixels. For example, if a diagonal line with a width smaller than a full pixel must be rendered, then this can be done by lighting only the subpixels that the line actually touches. If the line passes through the leftmost portion of the pixel, only the red subpixel is lit; if it passes through the rightmost portion of the pixel, only the blue subpixel is lit. This effectively triples the horizontal resolution of the image at normal viewing distances.
13px
1.45
0.005
The Mercator projection is often compared to and confused with the central cylindrical projection, which is the result of projecting points from the sphere onto a tangent cylinder along straight radial lines, as if from a light source placed at the Earth's center. Both have extreme distortion far from the equator and cannot show the poles. However, they are different projections and have different properties. Because of great land area distortions, some consider the projection unsuitable for general world maps. Mercator himself used the equal-area sinusoidal projection to show relative areas. However, despite such distortions, the Mercator projection was, especially in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, perhaps the most common projection used in world maps, despite being much criticized for this use. Because of its very common usage, the Mercator projection has been supposed to have influenced people's view of the world, and because it shows countries near the Equator as too small when compared to those of Europe and North America, it has been supposed to cause people to consider those countries as less important. As a result of these criticisms, modern atlases no longer use the Mercator projection for world maps or for areas distant from the equator, preferring other cylindrical projections, or forms of equal-area projection. The Mercator projection is, however, still commonly used for areas near the equator where distortion is minimal. It is also frequently found in maps of time zones. Arno Peters stirred controversy beginning in 1972 when he proposed what is now usually called the Gall–Peters projection to remedy the problems of the Mercator, claiming it to be his own original work without referencing prior work by cartographers such as Gall's work from 1855. The projection he promoted is a specific parameterization of the cylindrical equal-area projection. In response, a 1989 resolution by seven North American geographical groups disparaged using cylindrical projections for general-purpose world maps, which would include both the Mercator and the Gall–Peters. A rhumb line (blue) compared to a great-circle arc (red) between Lisbon, Portugal and Havana, Cuba. Top: orthographic projection. Bottom: Mercator projection. The Mercator projection was designed for use in marine navigation because of its unique property of representing any course of constant bearing as a straight segment. Such a course, known as a rhumb (or, mathematically, a loxodrome) is preferred in marine navigation because ships can sail in a constant compass direction, reducing the difficult, error-prone course corrections that otherwise would be needed frequently when sailing.
13px
1.45
0
As in all cylindrical projections, parallels and meridians on the Mercator are straight and perpendicular to each other. In accomplishing this, the unavoidable east–west stretching of the map, which increases as distance away from the equator increases, is accompanied in the Mercator projection by a corresponding north–south stretching, so that at every point location the east–west scale is the same as the north–south scale, making it a conformal map projection. Conformal projections preserve angles around all locations. Because the linear scale of a Mercator map increases with latitude, it distorts the size of geographical objects far from the equator and conveys a distorted perception of the overall geometry of the planet. At latitudes greater than 70° north or south the Mercator projection is practically unusable, because the linear scale becomes infinitely large at the poles. A Mercator map can therefore never fully show the polar areas (as long as the projection is based on a cylinder centered on the Earth's rotation axis; see the transverse Mercator projection for another application). The Mercator projection maps all lines with constant bearing (rhumbs (mathematically known as loxodromes—those making constant angles with the meridians) to straight lines. The two properties, conformality and straight rhumb lines, make this projection uniquely suited to marine navigation: courses and bearings are measured using wind roses or protractors, and the corresponding directions are easily transferred from point to point, on the map, with the help of a parallel ruler (for example). The Mercator projection is often compared to and confused with the central cylindrical projection, which is the result of projecting points from the sphere onto a tangent cylinder along straight radial lines, as if from a light source placed at the Earth's center. Both have extreme distortion far from the equator and cannot show the poles. However, they are different projections and have different properties. Because of great land area distortions, some consider the projection unsuitable for general world maps. Mercator himself used the equal-area sinusoidal projection to show relative areas. However, despite such distortions, the Mercator projection was, especially in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, perhaps the most common projection used in world maps, despite being much criticized for this use. Because of its very common usage, the Mercator projection has been supposed to have influenced people's view of the world, and because it shows countries near the Equator as too small when compared to those of Europe and North America.

Visual was born at a workshop at the end of October (2010), but spiritually is a double Gemini – full of hot takes and internal contradictions. Its exterior is systematic, adhering to a strict grid – rendering an appearance of re-booting back to an era of bitmap fonts – while its counters are organic – hacking the rules of the rest of its system. A fitting take on a raster font as today’s screens (obviously) no longer require the coarseness that Zuzana Licko had to work within for the first generations of personal computers (1985, Oakland¹), or perhaps an even earlier system from Giuseppe Salviati, who developed templates for cross stitch embroidery (1567, La Vera Perfettione del Disegno di varie sorti di recami²). Thus it is fitting that a (semi) pixel family released in 2023 is not limited to the constraints which defined previous eras. In Visual, the gradation of pixels follow in the same steps in each of its styles – the weight is increased through the width of the character, and the inner curves which form its counters enable the letterforms to become optically balanced.

A simple prompt resulted in a nuanced output – create something typographically new inspired by topographic maps, the goal to work through: ‘freely connecting the disciplines of typography and topography.’ The workshop resulted in a single weight and a poster after a 1-week workshop led by Áron Jancsó, Ján Filípek, and Ondrej Jób. In the initial steps of the workshop Jan Novák surfed the internet from Báhoň, SK to Chicago, USA – to catch a birds-eye view, of a zoo. Inspired by overlapping geometric and natural elements in a map of Lincoln Park Zoo, Jan developed a typeface inspired by these maps – not immediately sketched on screen, but developed first from drawings on paper. No longer limited by the historical design problem of adhering to a lo-res grid due to production constraints, the (then) advanced technology of Fontlab Studio 5.1 enabled Jan to create a typeface which had the characteristics of a pixel font but the dynamism of something new.

Read more →

In 2022, Jan returned to the project, expanding the typeface into a family with 6 cuts. During the refinement process, shapes which previously existed in a purely geometric perspective were optically condensed to behave in a more functional way. Operating as a neo-grotesque while emulating Gameboy energy.

ZOOming out creates a different kind of perspective, the edges blur and become simplified. Despite its aliased appearance, Visual functions quite well for text setting, as the rough edges are softened when viewed from a reading distance – not unlike another famous topographic-to-intergalactic moment (coincidentally also featuring an overview of Chicago), the Ray and Charles Eames film comissioned by IBM: Powers of Ten: A Film Dealing with the Relative Size of Things in the Universe and the Effect of Adding Another Zero³. A timeless reminder that we are floating through a rock in space (aka Earth) – perhaps it would be ideal to spec your glyphs from an elevated perspective, and then go outside.

1     Zuzana Licko, Oakland, 1985. Digital typeface, Emigre Inc. MoMA Collection

2    Giuseppe Salviati, La Vera Perfettione del Disegno di varie sorti di recami, 1567. Woodcut, Giovanni Ostaus. The Metropolitan Museum of Art Collection

3    Ray and Charles Eames, Powers of Ten™, 1977. Film, Eames Office.

Technical Information:

Design: Jan Novák
Design assistance: Přemysl Zajíček, Ishar Hawkins, Rebekka Hausmann
Classification: Semi-Pixel Geometric Sans
Cuts: 6
Mastering: Michele Patanè
Cover artwork: Rebekka Hausmann
First sketch: 2010
Released: 2023
Latest update: 09/2023

OpenType Features:
aalt
Access All Alternates
calt
Contextual Alternates
case
Case Sensitive Forms
dnom
Denominator
frac
Fractions
locl
Localized Forms
numr
Numerator
ordn
Ordinals
sinf
Scientific Inferiors
subs
Subscript
sups
Superscript
Supported Languages:

Afrikaans, Albanian, Asu (Tanzania), Basque, Bemba (Zambia), Bena (Tanzania), Breton, Catalan, Chiga, Cornish, Croatian, Czech, Danish, Dutch, Embu, English, Esperanto, Estonian, Faroese, Filipino, Finnish, French, Friulian, Galician, Ganda, German, Gusii, Hungarian, Icelandic, Inari Sami, Indonesian, Irish, Italian, Jola-Fonyi, Kabuverdianu, Kalaallisut, Kalenjin, Kamba (Kenya), Kikuyu, Kinyarwanda, Latvian, Lithuanian, Lower Sorbian, Luo (Kenya and Tanzania), Luxembourgish, Luyia, Machame, Makhuwa-Meetto, Makonde, Malagasy, Maltese, Manx, Meru, Morisyen, North Ndebele, Northern Sami, Norwegian Bokmål, Norwegian Nynorsk, Nyankole, Oromo, Polish, Portuguese, Quechua, Romanian, Romansh, Rombo, Rundi, Rwa, Samburu, Sango, Sangu (Tanzania), Scottish Gaelic, Sena, Serbian, Shambala, Shona, Slovak, Slovenian, Soga, Somali, Spanish, Swahili (macrolanguage), Swedish, Swiss German, Taita, Teso, Turkish, Upper Sorbian, Uzbek, Volapük, Vunjo, Walser, Welsh, Western Frisian, Zulu

Buy Visual Family

375 EUR
570 EUR
VisualComplete Family
Visual Light
Visual Regular
Visual Medium
Visual Semibold
Visual Bold
Visual Black
225 EUR
285 EUR
VisualEssential Family
Visual Regular
Visual Medium
Visual Bold

Single Styles

95 EUR
VisualLight
95 EUR
VisualRegular
95 EUR
VisualMedium
95 EUR
VisualSemibold
95 EUR
VisualBold
95 EUR
VisualBlack
Package discount
EUR

Buying guide

We offer the possibility of buying individual styles as well as complete families. The price shown is the cost of our most basic licence. Further licencing options are available during the checkout process.

Character Overview

A
Character name
Unicode Decimal
65
Unicode Hex
41
HTML Entity (Hex)
A
Uppercase
  • 65
    A
  • 66
    B
  • 67
    C
  • 68
    D
  • 69
    E
  • 70
    F
  • 71
    G
  • 72
    H
  • 73
    I
  • 74
    J
  • 75
    K
  • 76
    L
  • 77
    M
  • 78
    N
  • 79
    O
  • 80
    P
  • 81
    Q
  • 82
    R
  • 83
    S
  • 84
    T
  • 85
    U
  • 86
    V
  • 87
    W
  • 88
    X
  • 89
    Y
  • 90
    Z
Lowercase
  • 97
    a
  • 98
    b
  • 99
    c
  • 100
    d
  • 101
    e
  • 102
    f
  • 103
    g
  • 104
    h
  • 105
    i
  • 106
    j
  • 107
    k
  • 108
    l
  • 109
    m
  • 110
    n
  • 111
    o
  • 112
    p
  • 113
    q
  • 114
    r
  • 115
    s
  • 116
    t
  • 117
    u
  • 118
    v
  • 119
    w
  • 120
    x
  • 121
    y
  • 122
    z
Uppercase Accents
  • 193
    Á
  • 258
    Ă
  • 194
    Â
  • 196
    Ä
  • 192
    À
  • 256
    Ā
  • 260
    Ą
  • 197
    Å
  • 195
    Ã
  • 198
    Æ
  • 262
    Ć
  • 268
    Č
  • 199
    Ç
  • 264
    Ĉ
  • 266
    Ċ
  • 208
    Ð
  • 270
    Ď
  • 272
    Đ
  • 201
    É
  • 276
    Ĕ
  • 282
    Ě
  • 202
    Ê
  • 203
    Ë
  • 278
    Ė
  • 200
    È
  • 274
    Ē
  • 280
    Ę
  • 7868
  • 286
    Ğ
  • 284
    Ĝ
  • 290
    Ģ
  • 288
    Ġ
  • 294
    Ħ
  • 292
    Ĥ
  • 7716
  • 306
    IJ
  • 205
    Í
  • 206
    Î
  • 207
    Ï
  • 304
    İ
  • 204
    Ì
  • 298
    Ī
  • 302
    Į
  • 296
    Ĩ
  • 308
    Ĵ
  • 310
    Ķ
  • 313
    Ĺ
  • 317
    Ľ
  • 315
    Ļ
  • 7734
  • 321
    Ł
  • 323
    Ń
  • 327
    Ň
  • 325
    Ņ
  • 330
    Ŋ
  • 209
    Ñ
  • 211
    Ó
  • 334
    Ŏ
  • 212
    Ô
  • 214
    Ö
  • 210
    Ò
  • 336
    Ő
  • 332
    Ō
  • 216
    Ø
  • 213
    Õ
  • 338
    Œ
  • 222
    Þ
  • 340
    Ŕ
  • 344
    Ř
  • 346
    Ś
  • 352
    Š
  • 350
    Ş
  • 348
    Ŝ
  • 536
    Ș
  • 7838
  • 358
    Ŧ
  • 356
    Ť
  • 354
    Ţ
  • 538
    Ț
  • 218
    Ú
  • 364
    Ŭ
  • 219
    Û
  • 220
    Ü
  • 217
    Ù
  • 368
    Ű
  • 362
    Ū
  • 370
    Ų
  • 366
    Ů
  • 360
    Ũ
  • 7810
  • 372
    Ŵ
  • 7812
  • 7808
  • 221
    Ý
  • 374
    Ŷ
  • 376
    Ÿ
  • 7922
  • 377
    Ź
  • 381
    Ž
  • 379
    Ż
Lowercase Accents
  • 225
    á
  • 259
    ă
  • 226
    â
  • 228
    ä
  • 224
    à
  • 257
    ā
  • 261
    ą
  • 229
    å
  • 227
    ã
  • 230
    æ
  • 263
    ć
  • 269
    č
  • 231
    ç
  • 265
    ĉ
  • 267
    ċ
  • 240
    ð
  • 271
    ď
  • 273
    đ
  • 233
    é
  • 277
    ĕ
  • 283
    ě
  • 234
    ê
  • 235
    ë
  • 279
    ė
  • 232
    è
  • 275
    ē
  • 281
    ę
  • 7869
  • 287
    ğ
  • 285
    ĝ
  • 291
    ģ
  • 289
    ġ
  • 295
    ħ
  • 293
    ĥ
  • 7717
  • 305
    ı
  • 237
    í
  • 238
    î
  • 239
    ï
  • 236
    ì
  • 307
    ij
  • 299
    ī
  • 303
    į
  • 297
    ĩ
  • 309
    ĵ
  • 311
    ķ
  • 312
    ĸ
  • 314
    ĺ
  • 318
    ľ
  • 316
    ļ
  • 7735
  • 322
    ł
  • 324
    ń
  • 329
    ʼn
  • 328
    ň
  • 326
    ņ
  • 331
    ŋ
  • 241
    ñ
  • 243
    ó
  • 335
    ŏ
  • 244
    ô
  • 246
    ö
  • 242
    ò
  • 337
    ő
  • 333
    ō
  • 248
    ø
  • 245
    õ
  • 339
    œ
  • 254
    þ
  • 341
    ŕ
  • 345
    ř
  • 347
    ś
  • 353
    š
  • 351
    ş
  • 349
    ŝ
  • 537
    ș
  • 223
    ß
  • 359
    ŧ
  • 357
    ť
  • 355
    ţ
  • 539
    ț
  • 250
    ú
  • 365
    ŭ
  • 251
    û
  • 252
    ü
  • 249
    ù
  • 369
    ű
  • 363
    ū
  • 371
    ų
  • 367
    ů
  • 361
    ũ
  • 7811
  • 373
    ŵ
  • 7813
  • 7809
  • 253
    ý
  • 375
    ŷ
  • 255
    ÿ
  • 7923
  • 378
    ź
  • 382
    ž
  • 380
    ż
Numerals
  • 48
    0
  • 49
    1
  • 50
    2
  • 51
    3
  • 52
    4
  • 53
    5
  • 54
    6
  • 55
    7
  • 56
    8
  • 57
    9
Dingbat Numerals
  • 9471
  • 10102
  • 10103
  • 10104
  • 10105
  • 10106
  • 10107
  • 10108
  • 10109
  • 10110
Currency & Math
  • 8383
  • 162
    ¢
  • 164
    ¤
  • 36
    $
  • 8364
  • 8356
  • 8378
  • 163
    £
  • 165
    ¥
  • 8901
  • 43
    +
  • 8722
  • 215
    ×
  • 247
    ÷
  • 61
    =
  • 8800
  • 62
    >
  • 60
    <
  • 8805
  • 8804
  • 177
    ±
  • 8776
  • 126
    ~
  • 172
    ¬
  • 94
    ^
  • 8734
  • 8709
  • 8747
  • 960
    π
  • 8710
  • 8486
  • 181
    µ
  • 8719
  • 8721
  • 8730
  • 8706
  • 37
    %
  • 8240
Superscript
  • 8304
  • 185
    ¹
  • 178
    ²
  • 179
    ³
  • 8308
  • 8309
  • 8310
  • 8311
  • 8312
  • 8313
Subscript
  • 8320
  • 8321
  • 8322
  • 8323
  • 8324
  • 8325
  • 8326
  • 8327
  • 8328
  • 8329
Ordinals
  • 170
    ª
  • 186
    º
Punctuation & Symbols
  • 46
    .
  • 44
    ,
  • 58
    :
  • 59
    ;
  • 8230
  • 33
    !
  • 161
    ¡
  • 63
    ?
  • 191
    ¿
  • 183
    ·
  • 8226
  • 35
    #
  • 47
    /
  • 92
    \
  • 40
    (
  • 41
    )
  • 123
    {
  • 125
    }
  • 91
    [
  • 93
    ]
  • 45
    -
  • 8211
  • 8212
  • 95
    _
  • 8218
  • 8222
  • 8220
  • 8221
  • 8216
  • 8217
  • 8249
  • 8250
  • 34
    "
  • 39
    '
  • 9679
  • 9675
  • 9674
  • 9632
  • 9633
  • 64
    @
  • 38
    &
  • 182
  • 167
    §
  • 169
    ©
  • 174
    ®
  • 8471
  • 8482
  • 176
    °
  • 8242
  • 8243
  • 124
    |
  • 166
    ¦
  • 8224
  • 8225
  • 65533
Fraction
  • 189
    ½
  • 8585
  • 8531
  • 8532
  • 188
    ¼
  • 190
    ¾
  • 8533
  • 8534
  • 8535
  • 8536
  • 8537
  • 8538
  • 8528
  • 8539
  • 8540
  • 8541
  • 8542
  • 8529
  • 8530
Arrows
  • 8593
  • 8594
  • 8595
  • 8592
  • 8599
  • 8600
  • 8601
  • 8598
  • 8596
  • 8597
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