Gridular originally started as an experiment by Mark Bloom, whose admiration for Wim Crouwel’s grid-based type designs has often served as inspiration for new typefaces. This particular design takes a cue from Crouwel’s Architype Stedelijk typeface, which uses a grid of interconnected pixels with slightly rounded corners and connections. CoType’s interpretation is a more playful take on a similar grid, striking a dynamic balance between the decorative and the functional.

Gridular resembles a monospaced pixel font, but it includes some proportional letters and kerning to improve performance in running text. Most lowercase letters are drawn on a grid of 5x7 pixels with a fixed width of 612 units, while uppercase letters follow a 6x7 grid with a fixed width of 714 units. Punctuation and symbols follow their own proportions but adhere to the overall grid structure for consistency.

For those seeking a monospaced effect, Stylistic Set 1 includes monospaced alternates for characters like ‘f,’ ‘j,’ ‘m,’ ‘t,’ ‘w,’ ‘M,’ and ‘W,’ along with an alternate word space matching lowercase or all-caps proportions. Simply turn off kerning to achieve a fully monospaced look. Additional features include special punctuation for all-caps text and a comprehensive set of arrows. The typeface supports most European languages written with the Latin script, thanks to its Latin Extended character set.

Gridular is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-No Derivatives 4.0 International license, allowing you to freely share, copy, and redistribute it for personal or commercial use.