Using a great typeface is like cheating at design because your work instantly gets so much better. After years of mucking, we started using MD System in a prototype. Seeing what the tool *could* look like was a huge motivation to finally make it happen. Once we saw it, we couldn't wait to build it.

When you design a typeface, there’s always a feeling of “I hope someone does X with it”. For MD System, @fathom.info’s Rowboat is cooler than even my most optimistic goals:

@mass-driver.com has a modern revival of MICR-ish typefaces: polychrome.mass-driver.com #typography

Update: it was actually *less* than one. High hopes for 2026!

For any game developers* caught by the Monotype/Fontworks price hikes: - you can use our fonts for video games - there are no usage caps or renewal fees - unrestricted trial fonts for in-engine testing - smaller dev teams pay less. mass-driver.com *Extended Latin support, but not Japanese, sorry!

“I for one think it is entirely excellent that the US State Department is reverting to using a typeface designed by a committed Marxist who was imprisoned during WW1 as a conscientious objector. Bravo!” — John Hudson typedrawers.com/discussion/c...

Available now: MD Thermochrome v0.4 adds over 100 new icons to the typeface, all of which respond to weight and italic angle just like every other glyph. Legibility not guaranteed www.futurefonts.com/mass-driver/...

Available now: MD Thermochrome v0.4 adds over 100 new icons to the typeface, all of which respond to weight and italic angle just like every other glyph. Legibility not guaranteed www.futurefonts.com/mass-driver/...

The v0.4 update for MD Thermochrome is finally ready, and it’ll ship later today! This version of the typeface includes 100+ new icons for UI design, wayfinding, and more. There’s a few more hours to get it at the current price, with lifetime updates included: www.futurefonts.com/mass-driver/...

Made the call last week to push our late 2025 release to early 2026. The delay might be disappointing, but I feel extremely fortunate that we can take as much time as this project needs. In the meantime, here’s a preview of something else I’ve been working on: MD Thermochrome icons

A small update: if you’re buying fonts via our website, there’s now an option to apply a 50% student discount without needing to contact us. (You can always use our trial fonts in class without paying anything — this is only for commercial projects, published websites, etc.) mass-driver.com

Super nice example of MD Nichrome in use, by Malcontenti Studio for Yatasto, a bar/pizzeria in Buenos Aires. (I love seeing projects like this!) Via @fontsinuse.com: fontsinuse.com/uses/71993/y...

For years, @matthewsmith.website’s typefoundry.directory has been my favourite place to discover new, independent type foundries. This summer Matthew released a huge update to the site, and also (finally!) let me support his efforts with a sponsorship — this month, the nameplate is set in MD Lórien

Happy to have been able to contribute some thoughts to @goodspeed.bsky.social’s latest piece for @its-nice-that.bsky.social. It’s great to see an article on design ethics consider type and UX, which generally don’t follow the typical client–agency model. www.itsnicethat.com/features/is-...

A small update on web fonts: from today, we’re no longer including the .woff format by default, since browser support for .woff2 is virtually identical (96% vs 96.7%). We’ll continue to provide them on request for any users who need them.

About a month ago this arrived at the studio, and I *adore* it. Long Way Home is a book on the work of Belarusian artist Masha Maroz. Its titles are set in MD Thermochrome, which doesn’t (yet) support Cyrillic — so the designers made their own. Via @fontsinuse.com: fontsinuse.com/uses/69970/l...

A lovely historical discussion of some of my favourite, and the oldest, typeface families, by @mass-driver.com; including many beautiful page images. mass-driver.com/article/md-l... #typography

Another 10/10 entry in Figma’s portfolio of features which look great but will make your web developer cry

Take Back Mokum: a collection of essays, interviews, illustrations and more, around the theme of squatting and housing in Amsterdam. The first (& I hope not the last!) book set in my typeface, MD Lórien. Via @fontsinuse.com: fontsinuse.com/uses/67027/t... Typeface: mass-driver.com/typefaces/md...

In love with the typesetting on these posters, too (mass-driver.com/typefaces/md...)

This is the final week of collecting responses regarding font users’ opinions on the current state of font licensing. The survey will close on Sunday 6 July at midnight CEST. Once the data has been analysed, we will share the findings publicly. Complete the survey today: fontstand.com/survey

MD Thermochrome v0.3 is now available! This update adds 33 new styles, for a total of 40 — including a new Medium weight and 4 sets of italics. (Also included are arrows, super & subscript, and a fractions OpenType feature) www.future-fonts.com/mass-driver/...

The next update to MD Thermochrome will be out tomorrow, adding 33 (!) new styles: a new Medium weight, plus 4 sets of italics. As always with Future Fonts releases, the price will increase for new buyers, but existing customers get all updates for free www.future-fonts.com/mass-driver/...

What is common knowledge in your field, but shocks outsiders? Fonts regularly take multiple years to make, and developing a small typeface family can easily cost $50k.

The type distributor (and organiser of my favourite typography conference), @fontstand.com, is restructuring into a cooperative. It’s hard to overstate how valuable this could be, for foundries, customers, and the health of the whole industry. A font platform owned by independent foundries!

Maybe you’ve heard: every font is free! Since fonts aren’t subject to copyright, you can legally ‘pirate’ them if you use a specific loophole! ...except that’s not really true. I’ve seen this claim repeated quite a lot recently, and it’s missing some pretty important nuance. 🧵 A thread:

Via @fontsinuse.com: MD Nichrome in use for Révéler l’impact, an exhibition on the impacts of mining and mineral extraction. More info: fontsinuse.com/uses/68263/r... Typeface: mass-driver.com/typefaces/md...

Back in 2023, we made a custom typeface for Bonnaroo festival — MD Bonnachrome is still front and centre for the 2025 event (and I’m still getting excited every time a new poster drops). The case study: mass-driver.com/custom/bonna... The festival: www.bonnaroo.com

I’m really happy to see MD Lórien used for Robin Sloan’s recent zine, The Secret Playbook (on strategies for artists to counter AI models) — and in great company, next to DJR’s exceptional Clavichord! www.robinsloan.com/newsletters/...

This year I had the privilege of being on the type design jury for the Type Directors Club TDC71 awards. It was difficult keeping quiet about some of these entries, but the winners have now been announced — check them out! tdc.org/winner-archi...

garamond.png

“Awake, brave Knight, for the Dawn comes not!” — O Knight of Many Stars Cartridge design & custom lettering for the 2025 My Famicase Exhibition at METEOR, Tokyo. #famicase

The ‘Piracy. It’s a Crime’ campaign used pirated music, *and* as it turns out, also used pirated fonts. Incredible.

MD Thermochrome version 0.2 is now available! This is a pretty big update, with 6 new weights (i.e. 600% more than v0.1), all of them duplexed to allow for various stacking and layering effects. Also a variable font, and slightly better language support. www.future-fonts.com/mass-driver/...

I guess it’s #PortfolioDay! I’m Rutherford, I’m a type designer running a small foundry in The Hague. We (me + friends) make really good fonts, and distribute them via a model designed to be simple and fair. Studio: mass-driver.com Latest case study: mass-driver.com/article/md-l...

I’m not quite ready to lock in a release date, but I’ve been making progress on v0.2 of MD Thermochrome. The main focus is this (duplexed) inkbleed/dot size axis, which opens up a huge range of options for layering text.

Hey just to make my stance extremely clear, trans rights are human rights.

I always imagined font engineering was about developing OpenType features and managing complex interpolation spaces. It’s actually about 80% “trying to figure out why Microsoft Office is doing that”

The most hopeful I’ve felt about the type industry in a long time. Excited to be a part of this!

According to Michael Doret, PLINC paid designers one dollar per word set in their fonts — and the total payout for Doret Shaded was $12. With this album cover, @fontsinuse.com “now have documented one sixth of all words in Doret Shaded that have ever been ordered!” fontsinuse.com/uses/66597/t...

old work for silk and stone: logo for DETECT OR DIE set in MD Nichrome by @mass-driver.com

MD IO is now on programmingfonts.org! The typeface you use for code is an incredibly personal thing, so I’m happy that it’s now easier to compare IO with other designs in context.

Really great to see MD IO playing a role in @tutaprivacy.bsky.social’s updated branding! (It’s always a nice surprise to discover a project like this via @fontsinuse.com, too) fontsinuse.com/uses/65596/t...

20/02/20–20/02/25 MD launched five years ago today. Since then we’ve released 99 fonts across 7 families, and designed over 81,000 (!) individual glyphs. Here’s to five more years.

Next week will be 5 years since I launched Mass-Driver — I’m beyond grateful to have been able to spend the past half decade (!!) doing what I love. That said, I’m going to celebrate with a much-needed week off. Please try to avoid having font-related emergencies until I’m back on the 24th.

New work! Ampersands (and some technical/engineering assistance) for DCZ GLYPH, a collaborative font by 30+ designers. Available now for a limited time, with proceeds benefiting the Palestinian Children’s Relief Fund: dczglyph.com

New work! Ampersands (and some technical/engineering assistance) for DCZ GLYPH, a collaborative font by 30+ designers. Available now for a limited time, with proceeds benefiting the Palestinian Children’s Relief Fund: dczglyph.com

Weird to think that if 5000 years ago some oxen in Egypt hadn’t had horns, then the letter A would probably look completely different right now

I’m always hesitant to post things which feel too much like ads, but since the #gamedev community here is so strong I want to quietly mention that our font licensing was actively designed with game developers in mind. Buy once, use forever, no media restrictions or renewal fees.