Font Series: Rotis is everywhere
Otl Aicher one of the leading German graphic designers developed in 1988 the typeface Rotis, named after the town Olt Aicher lived in. With Rotis he tried to create to maximum legibilty face with a high x-height. Available in four font families from sans to serif, Rotis typeface can be found everywhere around you. Unfortunally Olt Aicher died in a traffic accident in 1991. Linotype currently owns the Rotis Font Family, where all of the font variantions can be bought.
Rotis® gives an impression of both strength and generosity and all four versions can be used interchangeably with one another. Rotis® is suitable for book/text, documentation/business reports, business correspondence, magazines, newspapers, posters, advertiments, multimedia, corporate design. from Linotype
During my holiday in the beautiful German Steigerwald (near Nürnberg and Bamberg) I came across the Rotis Font Family quite often, this is a photo showcase collection of the Font Familiy Rotis Sans.
A book about photography
This is where I first spotted Rotis, during a visit at the bookstore and came to the idea to putting this post together. As you can see, Rotis works well for legibility and design.
Street Signs
We were walking down the streets where I took this photo of a small billboard, The font family Rotis has enough detail to show at large points. Good readable from a distance.
Cafe Signage
Sitting down for a espresso where I saw this acrylic nameplate, clearly the usage of the noticable ´e´ of Rotis. A good color usage as where the brick will look dark from a distance the off-white lettering will stand out.
1000 Jahre Bamberg
During the celebration of 1000 years of the city Bamberg various information signposts has been put up in the city (now only available in the Church), a clear usage of font Rotis.
Museum Nürnberg
We went to various museum in Nürnberg, but this one got my attention. The openinghours and detailed information folder about the museum was all created using Rotis.
Shopping
My wife wanted to go shopping, so I sat down and read some magazines. Here I spotted Rotis in a Loreal print ad, see the payoff.
Escape route plan
When walking down a mayor cityhall I spotted this Escape signage. All type is printed using Rotis font family, easy to read.
Bookstore
Going to a bookstore in Germany is a pleasure for all typophiles, you can recognize a font on almost every cover you see. I spotted the Rotis on the cover of this book.
Door Signage
A small signage for a local company called Temme uses Rotis on their door signage, a bold versions and a regular are displayed in the design.
Museum Gerolzhofen
When visiting the museum in the small city of Gerolzhofen you can find the openinghours plate created using the font Rotis. With so many lines and text Rotis proves a clear legibilty.
Arte Caffe
At the tourist guide shop I found this business card all designed using the type Rotis. Unfortunally we could not find the coffe shop, but I sure liked the design.
Kind of noodles
At the grocery we bought some kind of noodles (Spätzle), you can get this typical German kind of noodle with many dishes. At the package I spotted the Rotis, small printed but readable.
Rotling Wine
With food you can drink wine, I bought this dry Franken white wine of 2007. The label was printed using the type Rotis. If you can find a bottle I can suggested it, tasted very good.
Steigerwald walk
The area we stayed was Steigerwald, a great forrest area and we went for many walks there. Our guide was a map of the area, with on the frontpage a design using Rotis.
Shoppingbag
At the local bakery we bought typical German bread (really dark with good taste), we carried the bread in this paperbag, printed with the details of the bakery using Rotis.
Franken Brunnen
Water is good for everybody and Franken Brunnen does it all the way, they use Rotis on almost every form of visual communication.
Availability of Font Family Rotis
The font package is available in four type families, via Linotype:
- Rotis® Serif Font Family
- Rotis® Sans Serif Font Family
- Rotis® Semi Sans Font Family
- Rotis® Semi Serif Font Family
Personally I like Rotis Sans Serif Font Family (2nd on the list above) the best, it has a very distinctive look and feel with a high legibilty for usage in many fields of visual communication.
More information about Olt Aicher
There is much written about Olt Aicher who was not only a font designer but also a graphic designer who had a big part in designing the Münich Olympic Games in 1972.
- Information about Olt Aicher at Wikipedia.
- Great article about Olt Aicher at Underconsideration.
- Work from Olt Aicher at a huge flickr pool to be found here.
- The graphic design work he created for the Münich Olympic Games at this website.
- Other interesting and informative article about the type Rotis, here at manic.com.
So tell me..
Did you have your Rotis today?
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37 Responses to “Font Series: Rotis is everywhere”
Vincent
October 14th, 2008
♥ for the font series!
I wasn’t very familair with FF Rotis. It has a uniqueness that is only suited for certain businesses and brands. The wine and L’Oréal aren’t that suited, in my opinion. The museum and café typography look good though.
The Sans Serif looks pretty good, hm… I might purchase it for an upcoming project.
Btw, you travel a lot?
1.
Reece Conrad
October 14th, 2008
I didn’t know much about Rotis either, but I really enjoyed the post. I can’t believe you spotted it in so many places. I really like the serif version.
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Sander Baumann
October 14th, 2008
He Vincent - Thanks for your comment. I totally agree with you that Rotis is a museum sort of type. ff Rotis Sans & Serif is much used in signage & wayfinding systems, because of it’s high x-height Rotis is a typeface with a high legibility. Let me know about your upcomming project, very interested in your design. Thanks again for your comment, appreciated.
Hi Reece Conrad - Thanks very much for your visit & comment on Rotis is in the wild. I took the photos during my holiday earlier this year in Germany and almost everyday I spotted a design using ff Rotis. Curious to know if you spotted Rotis anywhere around you since this post. Let me know, I’m interested.
3.
Vincent
October 14th, 2008
@Sander:
I’ll let you know soon.
4.
James
October 14th, 2008
I used to use Rotis a lot in the late 90’s. Surprised to see it making a come back. A nice variation is Rotis Semi-Serif. For those who can’t commit! :-)
5.
Chris
October 14th, 2008
Hey, Gerolzhofen is really really close to where I live. Need to pay attention to the typo next time XD.
6.
Sander Baumann
October 15th, 2008
Hi James - Thanks for your comment, appreciated! I believe ff Rotis has a timesless look & feel, especially for signage projects. I’ve came across this typeface in Hospital, office, museum and public buildings signage & wayfinding systems.
Hi Chris - All photos where taken in the area around Gerlozhofen, love the environment over there. Thanks for your comment, maby see you there sometime.
7.
G F Mueden
October 15th, 2008
Oh, I like it !! Am at the margin, read a newspaper only in very good light. This is legible and has a nice style as well. Tank you for displaying it so well. ===gm===
8.
G F Mueden
October 15th, 2008
OH Oh Maybe not when it comes to the digits. The descender on the nine has been curled around and back up agian, giving the six, eight and nine round tops,and round bottons and looking quite similar. That is a NO NO for my eyes. ===gm===
9.
Sander Baumann
October 15th, 2008
G F Mueden - Thanks for your insight, as said above ff Rotis is a very legible typeface and the digits comes with the package, sorry to hear the digits are not working out for you. Good luck and thank you for commenting about the legiblity of ff Rotis.
10.
pree
October 15th, 2008
Manchester Metropolitan University art and design building use it in their signage and print work (i think)……Chatham building in particular.
11.
Kirsty
October 15th, 2008
I love Rotis too! first became aware of it when Peter Saville used it for a Factory Records logo.
12.
MP
October 15th, 2008
Vivid write up on a lovely typeface. Upon reviewing some of the collateral I took from the Bamberger Dom, it contains Rotis. It’s funny to see the city I spent the last two weeks in being used in a typography article. Small world. -MP
13.
Sander Baumann
October 15th, 2008
Hi pree - Thanks for sharing, I found a image of the entrance where Rotis Serif is used. Good catch! Love to see more photos of the Manchester Metropolitan University signage from if any one has. Thanks!
Hi Kirsty - Thanks for the mention, I found this image related to the Factory Records and Rotis Sans use. I could not find the logo, maby you can share a photo of the logo with us. Thanks!
Hi MP - Fabulous! Thanks for checking the Bamberger Dom and that the sign is still there, highly appreciated. Enjoy your stay in Bamberg. Good luck.
14.
inspirationbit
October 16th, 2008
I too love these font series of yours. Keep them coming, please. And I really like your photos, especially all those different angles you’re taking them from.
15.
Sander Baumann
October 16th, 2008
Thanks Vivien (Inspirationbit) - for your comment, appreciated. I like looking at type from different angles, the same as you are walking by an object, you hardly take a direct look at something. Thanks again for your comment, good luck with inspirationbit, love the new design!
16.
Eivind
October 18th, 2008
It’s amazing sometimes when you look for a specific font, it’s everywhere!
My university uses Rotis Semi Serif for their logotype and signage.
17.
Sander Baumann
October 18th, 2008
Hi Eivind - Thanks for your comment, nice to see that the University of the Sunshine Coast also uses Rotis Serif. Found the building on Flickr, fabulous architecture, must be a pleasure to study there. This is the best image I could find of the front where Rotis Sans is seen.
18.
Stephen Coles
October 20th, 2008
If I’m not mistaken, Rotis has no “FF” prefix. Erik Spiekermann would be appalled to find that it was a FontFont. It’s one of his least favorite typefaces.
19.
Sander Baumann
October 20th, 2008
Hi Stephen Coles - Thanks very much for commenting, appreciated! I’m sorry if the information FF is wrong, at Linotype I have encountered this page with the text header Rotis Font Family, therefore I assumed it was FF Rotis. Thanks again for the mention.
20.
Vincent
October 23rd, 2008
Growing popularity. All good!
21.
Cone
October 30th, 2008
I first came in touch with Rotis at Singapore where its used for street signage.
I went on to love the typeface, specifically Rotis Semi Serif, which I also went on to set my thesis in.
22.
Sander Baumann
October 30th, 2008
Hi Cone - Interesting that Rotis is used in street signage in Singapore, I wonder who made this decision in the street signage design. Found this image at flickr, thanks for sharing your thoughts. Appreciated! Great blog btw, subscribed.
23.
James Kurtz III
October 31st, 2008
Rotis is one of my all-time favorites. I used it for some packaging I did for Hoover vacuums (you can see it in my work examples).
24.
Jon Williams
November 12th, 2008
I love this typeface. I think I will need to use it more often. Thanks.
25.
Camryn
November 14th, 2008
As a traveler, I’ve always considered an abundance of Rotis to be a strong indicator that I’m probably somewhere in Northern Europe… either Germany or not far from it.
26.
Josef Go-Oco
November 21st, 2008
I was first intrigued by Rotis when I saw a good-looking semi-serif type in a german (unsurprisingly!) company. I asked around and they said it was Rotis. I immediately fell in love with its distinct ‘e’ and ‘c’. I also see it around often in posters, and especially in a book my friend just bought: a compilation of questions and answers from askphilosophers.org: “I am, therefore I think” (they also used Mrs Eaves).
Anyway, great post! I’ll be reading more from you. :)
27.