Bandit
Documentation
If you thought Swiss modernism had nothing to do with the American Old West, think again. Bandit belongs to a gang of four whose lineage crosses the Atlantic. The typeface is the result of a happy marriage between burgeoning rationalist ideas and American wood type shapes, which makes it perfect for expressive applications ranging from (wanted) posters, headlines and section dividers. In the 1930s, designers in Switzerland – influenced by modernist ideas and forms – drew geometric typefaces using a modular system. At the same time, the Swiss shapes’ inverted contrasts share features with 18th and 19th century North American wood type. This incongruity is the starting point behind Bandit, which also comes armed with a variable font that stretches faster than its shadow. The family is a synthesis of these influences. It results in a flexible, multi-condensed display typeface with a geometric construction softened by the impact of wood type.
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Bandit’s “famiglia” includes Pierre Gauchat, Max Bill and Max Miedinger. In the 1930s, Gauchat developed a lettering style for one of his main clients, the Swiss furniture company Embru,¹ which has produced now-classic pieces by Alvar Aalto, Marcel Breuer and Flora Steiger-Crawford. More mundanely, virtually everyone in Switzerland has used their trousers on the company’s furniture for schools, municipal halls or canteens. Another grandfather of Swiss design, Max Bill not only used condensed slab typefaces early on² but also developed his own letterings, for instance in the “Wohnausstellung Neubühl”³ poster which is linked with the “Neues Bauen” architectural movement. Bill’s soft spot for wood type as well as his original modular letterings were particularly influential for the development of Bandit. Lastly, Miedinger’s Pro Arte⁴ is a slightly younger forebear. The 1950s typeface is an inverted slab serif of the genre known as “Italienne” which looks like a more constructed version of Robert Harling’s Playbill.⁵ Its combination of geometric and modular shapes is also to be found in Bandit’s DNA. These Swiss origins were observed through an American lens which coloured their appearance. As a result, Bandit is a modern, cross-continental typeface which will leave its mark wherever it is used.
1 Embru Logo, Pierre Gauchat, 1930
2 Verkaufsaustellung Poster, Max Bill, 1931
3 Neubühl Poster, Max Bill, 1931
4 Pro Arte, Max Miedinger, Haas’sche Schriftgiesserei, 1954
5 Playbill, Robert Harling, Stephenson Blake, 1938
Technical Information:
Design: Sylvan Lanz
Classification: Geometric Condensed Sans
Cuts: 4 + Variable
Mastering: Michele Patanè
Cover artwork: Sylvan Lanz
First sketch: 2020
Released: 2023
Latest update: 05/2023
OpenType Features:
- ss03
- Monocase
- locl
- Localized Forms
- numr
- Numerators
- aalt
- Access All Alternates
- subs
- Subscript
- ordn
- Ordinals
- case
- Case-sensitive Forms
- sups
- Superscript
- dnom
- Denominators
- pnum
- Proportional Figures
- frac
- Fractions
- tnum
- Tabular Figures
- salt
- Stylistic Alternates
- liga
- Standard Ligatures
- sinf
- Scientific Inferiors
- ss01
- Bauhaus
- ss02
- Hairline
Supported Languages:
Embru Logo, Pierre Gauchat, 1930. Image courtesy: Embru-Werke AG
The modular design principle of Bandit emphasises its geometric identity.
Lucky Luke 30, Die Daltons bewähren sich, Morris & Goscinny, Egmont Ehapa Verlag, 1963/1964. Image courtesy: Private collection
The spacing of the Super Compressed weight is systematically aligned with the inner spaces of the letters. In the more extended weights, the spacing is optically balanced.
Poster by Pierre Gauchat, 1938. Image courtesy: Plakatsammlung SfG Basel
Bandit features a noticeable reversed contrast with thinner vertical strokes and thicker horizontal strokes (B), contrasting the conventional thick-to-thin transition (A).
Pro Arte, Max Miedinger, Haas Foundry, 1954. Image courtesy: Basler Papiermühle. Schweizerisches Museum für Papier, Schrift und Druck
An overview of the OpenType functions: The “Bauhaus Style (ss01)” includes modernist letterforms. The “Hairline Style (ss02)” offers linear accents and punctuation. The “Monocase (ss03)” set cut descenders to enable the setting in tight line height.
Bauhaus Wanderschau, designer unknown, 1930. Image courtesy: Museum für Gestaltung Zürich, Plakatsammlung, ZHdK
The construction principle behind the Condensed numerals.
Model truck by Wiking, 1983. Image courtesy: Private collection
Detail of poster Indonesien by Kurt Wirth, 1984. Image courtesy: Plakatsammlung SfG Basel
Buy Bandit Family
Single Styles
Buying guide
We offer the possibility of buying individual styles as well as complete families. The price shown is the cost of our most basic licence. Further licencing options are available during the checkout process.
Character Overview
- Character name
- A
- Unicode Decimal
- 65
- Unicode Hex
- 41
Uppercase
- 65A
- 66B
- 67C
- 68D
- 69E
- 70F
- 71G
- 72H
- 73I
- 74J
- 75K
- 76L
- 77M
- 78N
- 79O
- 80P
- 81Q
- 82R
- 83S
- 84T
- 85U
- 86V
- 87W
- 88X
- 89Y
- 90Z
Lowercase
- 97a
- 98b
- 99c
- 100d
- 101e
- 102f
- 103g
- 104h
- 105i
- 106j
- 107k
- 108l
- 109m
- 110n
- 111o
- 112p
- 113q
- 114r
- 115s
- 116t
- 117u
- 118v
- 119w
- 120x
- 121y
- 122z
Uppercase Accents
- 193Á
- 258Ă
- 194Â
- 196Ä
- 192À
- 256Ā
- 260Ą
- 197Å
- 195Ã
- 198Æ
- 262Ć
- 268Č
- 199Ç
- 264Ĉ
- 266Ċ
- 208Ð
- 270Ď
- 272Đ
- 201É
- 276Ĕ
- 282Ě
- 202Ê
- 203Ë
- 278Ė
- 200È
- 274Ē
- 280Ę
- 7868Ẽ
- 286Ğ
- 284Ĝ
- 290Ģ
- 288Ġ
- 294Ħ
- 292Ĥ
- 7716Ḥ
- 306IJ
- 205Í
- 206Î
- 207Ï
- 304İ
- 204Ì
- 298Ī
- 302Į
- 296Ĩ
- 308Ĵ
- 310Ķ
- 313Ĺ
- 317Ľ
- 315Ļ
- 7734Ḷ
- 321Ł
- 323Ń
- 327Ň
- 325Ņ
- 330Ŋ
- 209Ñ
- 211Ó
- 334Ŏ
- 212Ô
- 214Ö
- 210Ò
- 336Ő
- 332Ō
- 216Ø
- 213Õ
- 338Œ
- 222Þ
- 340Ŕ
- 344Ř
- 346Ś
- 352Š
- 350Ş
- 348Ŝ
- 536Ș
- 7838ẞ
- 358Ŧ
- 356Ť
- 354Ţ
- 538Ț
- 218Ú
- 364Ŭ
- 219Û
- 220Ü
- 217Ù
- 368Ű
- 362Ū
- 370Ų
- 366Ů
- 360Ũ
- 7810Ẃ
- 372Ŵ
- 7812Ẅ
- 7808Ẁ
- 221Ý
- 374Ŷ
- 376Ÿ
- 7922Ỳ
- 377Ź
- 381Ž
- 379Ż
Lowercase Accents
- 225á
- 259ă
- 226â
- 228ä
- 224à
- 257ā
- 261ą
- 229å
- 227ã
- 230æ
- 263ć
- 269č
- 231ç
- 265ĉ
- 267ċ
- 240ð
- 271ď
- 273đ
- 233é
- 277ĕ
- 283ě
- 234ê
- 235ë
- 279ė
- 232è
- 275ē
- 281ę
- 7869ẽ
- 287ğ
- 285ĝ
- 291ģ
- 289ġ
- 295ħ
- 293ĥ
- 7717ḥ
- 305ı
- 237í
- 238î
- 239ï
- 236ì
- 307ij
- 299ī
- 303į
- 297ĩ
- 309ĵ
- 311ķ
- 312ĸ
- 314ĺ
- 318ľ
- 316ļ
- 7735ḷ
- 322ł
- 324ń
- 329ʼn
- 328ň
- 326ņ
- 331ŋ
- 241ñ
- 243ó
- 335ŏ
- 244ô
- 246ö
- 242ò
- 337ő
- 333ō
- 248ø
- 245õ
- 339œ
- 254þ
- 341ŕ
- 345ř
- 347ś
- 353š
- 351ş
- 349ŝ
- 537ș
- 223ß
- 359ŧ
- 357ť
- 355ţ
- 539ț
- 250ú
- 365ŭ
- 251û
- 252ü
- 249ù
- 369ű
- 363ū
- 371ų
- 367ů
- 361ũ
- 7811ẃ
- 373ŵ
- 7813ẅ
- 7809ẁ
- 253ý
- 375ŷ
- 255ÿ
- 7923ỳ
- 378ź
- 382ž
- 380ż
Ligatures
- 102, 102, 105ffi
- 102, 102, 108ffl
- 64257fi
- 64258fl
Proportional Figures
- 480
- 491
- 502
- 513
- 524
- 535
- 546
- 557
- 568
- 579
Tabular Figures
- 480
- 491
- 502
- 513
- 524
- 535
- 546
- 557
- 568
- 579
Currency & Math
- 8383₿
- 162¢
- 164¤
- 36$
- 8364€
- 8356₤
- 8378₺
- 163£
- 165¥
- 8901⋅
- 43+
- 8722−
- 215×
- 247÷
- 61=
- 8800≠
- 62>
- 60<
- 8805≥
- 8804≤
- 177±
- 8776≈
- 126~
- 172¬
- 94^
- 8734∞
- 8709∅
- 8747∫
- 960π
- 8710∆
- 8486Ω
- 181µ
- 8719∏
- 8721∑
- 8730√
- 8706∂
- 37%
- 8240‰
Superscript
- 8304⁰
- 185¹
- 178²
- 179³
- 8308⁴
- 8309⁵
- 8310⁶
- 8311⁷
- 8312⁸
- 8313⁹
Subscript
- 8320₀
- 8321₁
- 8322₂
- 8323₃
- 8324₄
- 8325₅
- 8326₆
- 8327₇
- 8328₈
- 8329₉
Ordinals
- 170ª
- 186º
Punctuation & Symbols
- 46.
- 44,
- 58:
- 59;
- 8230…
- 33!
- 161¡
- 63?
- 191¿
- 183·
- 8226•
- 35#
- 47/
- 92\
- 40(
- 41)
- 123{
- 125}
- 91[
- 93]
- 45-
- 8211–
- 8212—
- 95_
- 8218‚
- 8222„
- 8220“
- 8221”
- 8216‘
- 8217’
- 8249‹
- 8250›
- 34"
- 39'
- 9679●
- 9675○
- 9632■
- 9633□
- 9674◊
- 64@
- 38&
- 182¶
- 167§
- 169©
- 174®
- 8471℗
- 8482™
- 176°
- 8242′
- 8243″
- 124|
- 166¦
- 8224†
- 8225‡
Fraction
- 189½
- 8585↉
- 8531⅓
- 8532⅔
- 188¼
- 190¾
- 8533⅕
- 8534⅖
- 8535⅗
- 8536⅘
- 8537⅙
- 8538⅚
- 8528⅐
- 8539⅛
- 8540⅜
- 8541⅝
- 8542⅞
- 8529⅑
- 8530⅒
Arrows
- 8593↑
- 8599↗
- 8594→
- 8600↘
- 8595↓
- 8601↙
- 8592←
- 8598↖
- 8596↔
- 8597↕