Franciszek Otto

The Polish designer Franciszek Otto created the fonts Linotype Notec™ (1999) and Brda™ (2003).

Linotype Notec is a winner font of Linotype’s 3rd International Digital Type Design Contest and part of the TakeType 3.1 CD.

Brda Extra Bold was originally designed by Franciszek Otto for the Powiat weekly newspaper. Powiat needed a new, dynamically drawn sans serif for its headlines, and Otto’s Brda fit the bill. Combining traditional Grotesk letterforms with witty subtleties, like the notched-joint seen in the capital G, Brda displays a novel design that works best when set large. The typeface is named after the Brda river, which runs through Bydgoszcz, Poland, the city where Powiat is published. The Brda family includes two font styles: Brda Extra Bold, and Brda Extra Bold Italic. The family was one of the winners selected in the 2003 International Type Design Contest, sponsored by Linotype GmbH.

Franciszek Otto is also teaches graphic design at the Secondary Art School in Bydgoszcz, where his typefaces rank among the students’ favorites.