Optimo

Genath is a revival type, based on a 1720 specimen including Johann Wilhelm Haas’ first design for the Genath Foundry in Basel, Switzerland. Through his meticulous lens, François Rappo was able to create a streamlined digitalization of Baroque eclecticism and extravagance.

Like Joan Michaël Fleischmann, Johann Wilhelm Haas (1698–1764) trained in Nuremberg, likely with Johann and Pankraz Lobinger. Both Fleischmann and Haas epitomize a new typographic departure from the old styles cut during the Renaissance, a divergent situation specific to Northern Europe. It would later spread to Prague and to London, to a lesser extent. Following the death of the Genath Foundry’s proprietor, Johann Wilhelm Haas became its new owner and renamed the foundry, Haas’sche Schriftgiesserei. The foundry has been recognized as the most famous and oldest (1740–1989) type foundry in Switzerland, noted for the launch of Helvetica in the mid-1950s.

Truly “Baroque,” slightly condensed, and highly contrasting, Genath features playful and fancy details which will enhance any editorial work—from footnotes to headlines.

Genath
8 styles

Light
Light Italic
Regular
Italic
Bold
Bold Italic
Extrabold
Extrabold Italic

Genath Display
10 styles

Display Thin
Display Thin Italic
Display Light
Display Light Italic
Display Regular
Display Italic
Display Bold
Display Bold Italic
Display Extrabold
Display Extrabold Italic