I’m love/hate here.

On one side, this is a really great looking typeface (FF Mt)- I’ve even used it at work, and was thinking of dumping the Futura Condensed family for it… it’s pretty slick, it’s unique, and since everyone and their brother is using some form of Futura, I felt it was time to move on.

The bad: well… the typeface doesn’t come with any lowercase vowels. “Why?” you ask? Well, that crazy German (Erik Spiekermann) is at at again. Spiekermann designed this typeface for the German government to use on their road signs (see above). Which brings me back to the good…

…it’s an absolutely brilliant concept. Employing obscure but powerful techniques like vwl mmssn and cap reduction, FF Mt uses up to 50% less paper, screen, and wall space than other text faces without a single condensed letter.

Am I still going to use it at work? Sparingly, and in all caps. I know, I know… I should be hung for doing the all-caps thing, but trust me. Speikermann’s got a ton of great looking typefaces- maybe I’ll move my company over to one of them.