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I'm looking for a font for the base of a corporate logo - a clean, fairly geometric, sharp sans-serif (Helvetica-esque, basically).

My specific unusual requirement for one of my ideas is that the capital A has a square or square-ish top and vertical sides, rather than a pointed triangle. So, for example, the lower two-thirds of the A should resemble a H, and the window in the A should be a little similar to that of a P except symmetrical (either rounded or square is fine).

This is fairly unusual, and I know I'm going to have to do quite a lot of modifications, but I'm cautiously optimistic that there's something out there which would serve as a good base and minimise the amount of font-hacking I need to do. If I can't find anything, I'll experiment with hacking something together using a suitable font's H and P.

A great answer would be either:

  • A font with this sort of A in as close as possible to the above simple, clean, geometrically balanced, corporate style
  • Or, better still, some reliable steps I can take to filter my font browsing to fonts with this type of A. So far, I've not found any way to do this.

To give one example, Nova Square (thanks PieBie) has the type of A shape I'm looking for - but it's too much of a sci-fi-ish typeface than the clean sharp corporate look I'm aiming for:

enter image description here


Here's a crude example I made earlier:

enter image description here

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  • Maybe you can find one between these: dafont.com/theme.php?cat=301&page=1&text=Alberta
    – PieBie
    Nov 16, 2015 at 11:28
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    I think Nova Square comes quite close to what you're looking for: ffonts.net/Nova-Square.font
    – PieBie
    Nov 16, 2015 at 11:31
  • Those have the right shaped A but as fonts they're more sci-fi/space in character than the kind of clean corporate font I'm looking for. Thanks, though, Nova's a better example than Bauhaus, I've added it to my question Nov 16, 2015 at 11:34
  • Someone thinks that whether an A has vertical or angled sides is "primarily opinion based"... someone buy that user a protractor. And possibly a copy of "fonts for beginners". Nov 16, 2015 at 12:41

4 Answers 4

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OK, had some time for Googling around, so prepare for some options. I know not all of these are what you're looking for, but I still wanted to leave them for future passers-by.


Moderna Family

http://www.fontspring.com/fonts/los-andes-type/moderna

enter image description here

  • this font has both a square A and a triangular one
  • lots of options (unicase or not, condensed, ...)
  • readable, modern sans

Hallandale JNL

http://www.fontspring.com/fonts/jeff-levine/hallandale-jnl

enter image description here

  • Tight Sans font
  • Readable, even at smaller sizes
  • Only one thickness though :(

Schwager Sans

http://www.fontspring.com/fonts/latinotype/schwager-sans

enter image description here

  • Another one offering both A's
  • Personally like this one very much
  • Alternate characters add a distinguishing dimension

Bruum FY Family

http://www.fontspring.com/fonts/fontyou/bruum-fy

enter image description here

  • A bit of a different kind of A
  • A nice, readable sans with character
  • Not too rounded, but has some nice details

Isbit Family

http://www.fontspring.com/fonts/cheapprofonts/isbit-pro

enter image description here

  • A bit more playful than Moderna
  • Quite rounded
  • Provides alternates

Rotundus Rounded

http://www.fontspring.com/fonts/dayflash/rotundus-rounded

enter image description here

  • As the name suggests: very rounded
  • Playful, yet stylish
  • Maybe too rounded for your purpose, but I kinda like it

Design System B

http://www.fontspring.com/fonts/flat-it/design-system-b

enter image description here

  • Comes from a versatile and very, very extensive font family (Be sure to check C and D too for different letter heights)
  • Futuristic and distinctive
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  • Nice - Moderna is near-perfect! Nov 16, 2015 at 15:54
  • You're welcome. I think I might give Moderna a go too in one of our future projects.
    – PieBie
    Nov 16, 2015 at 17:06
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Agency FB

I know it's not a perfect fit, but perhaps an inspiration or something. It came to mind reading your description.

http://www.fontbureau.com/fonts/AgencyFB/

enter image description here

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    OMG what an aged web site they have. Straight outta 2003? Nov 16, 2015 at 12:14
  • Nice, closest so far. And wow, that site is... retro. (p.s. I editted the font name and image into your answer; we like to include samples so the answer is still informative if the linked site goes down - not unlikely, looking at that site...) Nov 16, 2015 at 12:39
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    Kind of OT, but I've been using their site every now and then since the late nineties. As far as I can recall, it's been largely the same over the years. I guess that could be called stability? :) Nov 16, 2015 at 14:39
  • This font actually has both a square A and a triangular one, which is kind of nice. Wish more font foundries would do that.
    – PieBie
    Nov 16, 2015 at 15:12
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This is actually one of the questions on Identifont.

So, you could go through the identifont sans-serif font-identification questions, entering any characteristics you want to specify, choosing "not sure" on those where you don't have an opinion, then choose "has parallel verticals" on question 28, and it'll give you fonts matching those criteria and this one to browse.

enter image description here

Don't be too strict with your other criteria, though. Identifont very often comes up with no exact matches for all your questions, and when it does, it has no way to know which are the most important. To ensure that all results match one criteria, answer "not sure" to most other questions.

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I don't think you'll find a readymade "corporate-looking font" with an A like that. You could draw one yourself - a famous example of this is the Toyota logo which is Helvetica except for the custom O.

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  • I suspect you're probably right... and custom is what I was expecting to have to do. But let's see. Agency FB is pretty close, there might be something closer still Nov 16, 2015 at 14:50

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