Displaay’s sans serif Bagoss embodies the maturity and characteristics of its namesake cheese

“Baggos is an Italian cheese produced only in a small area in northern Italy,” Founder of Prague-based type foundry Displaay Martin Vácha tells us, discussing the pasta-inspired name of their Daniel Quisek-designed sans serif. “It is aged for many months before it acquires its original flavour, the same as parmiggiano,” he explains, “however, its flavour is stronger and more characteristic thanks to the special ingredient saffron,” embodying the characteristics of the typeface in question. “This metaphor appealed to us because even a typeface must age,” Vácha adds, “and contain a special element to become unique.” Parameters which Bagoss certainly abides by – both technically in the production of the typeface, as well conceptually in the compelling forms of its design – while also encapsulating the punchy, flavoursome and satisfying characteristics of its namesake cheese.

Crafted with a shapely elegance, the sans serif houses an anomalous construction of contrasting strokes and curvature, strikingly paired with a sizeable x-height across its architecture; resulting in a friendly and effortless aesthetic that is as warm in tone as the typeface is comprehensive in its technical performance. Stocked with three widths – spanning Condensed, Standard and Extended – six weights and corresponding italics for every cut, Bagoss has plenty to boast. Applied with ease across macro and micro applications, with each font having 12 styles in total, making there 36 styles across the whole family.

Discussing the references behind Bagoss’ design, Vácha remarks at its inexplicable and unceremonious beginnings. “It started out as a simple sans serif that you'd find anywhere else,” he explains, “when we're designing a typeface, we're always looking for some detail to make the typeface special in some way,” turning towards a more sculptural approach when progressing with its design. “So we experimented with shapes until we were happy with the final form,” Vácha adds, “and were sure it had the kind of detail we hadn't seen in any other typeface,” continuing to make finalisations and refinements for over a year since its beta release in 2020. “At that time, only a condensed family existed,” Vácha recalls. “A couple of weeks before launch, while experimenting with the typeface for a project, we realised that it looked really great when we extended its forms,” he concludes, “so we decided to postpone its release and expand the family with another two subfamilies.” Resulting in the bountiful, characterful and comprehensive Bagoss that we see today.

Bagoss