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Poppy Thaxter
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CoType Foundry launch RM Mono, the fixed-width counterpart of their classic sans serif RM Neue


CoType Foundry launch RM Mono, the fixed-width counterpart of their classic sans serif RM Neue

“As CoType Foundry has evolved over the years, so too have our fonts,” Founder Mark Bloom tells us. “We’re not only updating our library with new releases but expanding upon our existing typefaces too.” CoType’s popular inventory continues to grow with the launch of RM Mono. As part of the longstanding RM family, this monospaced addition closely follows the original design of RM Neue and its utilitarian roots with some added alternates; such as a single-storey ‘a,’ ‘f’ with a bottom serif, and a new alternate ‘R.’ 

As Bloom explains, the mono version is a proportional counterpart of RM Neue, with the key focus being to preserve the “DNA” of the original family, despite the tweaks made to some letters to fit them to a fixed width. “This means retaining the angle of terminals, the shape of the bowls, the contrast, and any individual peculiarities that make a particular typeface recognisable,” Bloom notes.

CoType Foundry launch RM Mono, the fixed-width counterpart of their classic sans serif RM Neue

At the same time as RM Mono’s development, the team at CoType were also busy giving RM Neue an update. “Whilst RM Neue is our oldest typeface,” Bloom explains, “we decided to show it some love with tighter tracking, improved kerning, brand new arrows, alternate characters, discretionary ligatures and a variable font.” RM Mono includes these same updates, encasing a variable font which is free with full family purchases. 

CoType Foundry launch RM Mono, the fixed-width counterpart of their classic sans serif RM Neue
CoType Foundry launch RM Mono, the fixed-width counterpart of their classic sans serif RM Neue

The relationship between these two versions was another key consideration for the team. Following the release of CoType’s Aeonik Mono and Aeonik Fono (to join the bestseller typeface Aeonik) they noticed that many designers paired the standard width version with the monospaced and ‘fonospaced’ versions. Therefore, with designers in mind, CoType aimed to ensure the pairing of RM Neue and RM Mono would work well across an array of outputs, in a variety of typographic hierarchies.

Matching the weights of RM Neue, the mono version is available in five styles, ranging from Light to Black. “One of the biggest challenges in creating a monospaced typeface is, obviously, maintaining the texture as evenly as possible despite the fixed width of each letter,” Bloom reveals. “We pay close attention to achieve an even ‘colour’ in running text by proofing the font in many different scenarios.” 

CoType Foundry launch RM Mono, the fixed-width counterpart of their classic sans serif RM Neue
CoType Foundry launch RM Mono, the fixed-width counterpart of their classic sans serif RM Neue
CoType Foundry launch RM Mono, the fixed-width counterpart of their classic sans serif RM Neue

“One last aspect, which is easy to ignore, is adjusting the weight of punctuation and accents (and other small symbols) in the context of new spacing and texture. Generally, this translates to larger commas, quotes, periods, and so on.” With the punctuation in RM Mono being a little bit oversized and the Regular weight being a little bit heavier than a usual grotesque, the monospaced font also serves as a good option for writing code.

For everyone who purchases the full family, CoType will gift a free double-sided, A2 type specimen poster, created alongside design and motion studio Holographik.

Type Design

CoType Foundry

Typeface

RM Mono

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