type specimen–rotis

rotis is otl aicher’s attempt to bridge the gap between serif and sans serif typography. but…. who said we needed a bridge? I have mad respect for aicher as a designer and a creative, but rotis is really awful.

created in 1988, this typeface consists of four interchangeable styles: serif, semi-serif, semi-sans, and sans. sounds great in theory but these just don’t hit.

i designed this tongue-in-cheek specimen with a visual theme inspired by transit systems, inspired by the idea that rotis is a suitable typeface for public transportation signage. it has a reputation for legibility (idk….) at rapid speeds. not sure the results live up to the claims. 

rotis ranks on so many lists of unpopular fonts, but aicher will go down in history as an iconic designer. you win some, you lose some, i guess.

if you’re feeling froggy, you can purchase the rotis family from monotype