About Linotype Mano

Mano® comes in just four weights: light, regular, bold and extra bold. All four are italics, but there is no need to worry. Obviously, upright versions were designed and tested too – yet sadly, they could not do justice to the spirit of Mano as an uncompromising, super-fast, spontaneous and natural typeface. So they were not pursued. Also, balancing the uprights and italics in a font family always involves formal modifications, so leaving out the uprights was a necessary part of designing Mano as an uncompromising italic font.

One peculiarity of the Mano family is the elegant appearance of its light version. As with all distinctly light weights, however, their unique charm lies in knowing how to use them properly. Mano’s regular weight is more suitable for normal, workhorse font usage.

Mano owes a lot to two experts in particular. Jost Hochuli examined my first designs and suggested important improvements at a critical stage; Günter Gerhard Lange was the first to spot its commercial potential, and the subtle corrections he suggested at a later stage made sure Mano combined two conflicting characteristics – good legibility and a dynamic, handwritten feel. What makes Mano truly special is not that it distinctly reminds us of handwritten lettering but that it also works well as body copy.

The first Mano sketches were made more than 20 years ago, in 1982. The artwork was produced from 1984 through 1987. A manufacturer – who is no longer in business – released the finished family in 1988 under a different name. Fortunately, Linotype then took Mano on and has been distributing it since 2001.

For a larger view please click on the image

Especially in all caps, Mano has a slightly ornamental character that lends itself well to the glamorous world of fashion.

Marco Ganz, 2005. © ProLitteris

Read more about how Mano was created – and how to use it – in an interview with Marco Ganz.