Zealotry wouldn’t be an inappropriate collective noun for Underware. They not only design typefaces, they live type—they educate about type, they publish about type, they talk about type, they want (and organise) others to talk about type.

There is an inherent honesty to their enthusiasm that betrays no snobbery—they simply think that type is very interesting and that everyone, given the chance, might think so too. Their work is among the most popular of independent type foundries — happy-go-lucky, high-quality, text-friendly typefaces for both display use and comprehensive typesetting. Underware’s typefaces stand out thanks to unique aesthetics, finished quality, and a considered collective presence. Underware is a refreshing and intelligent type foundry who, while taking what they do seriously, manage to not take themselves too seriously.

The type foundry Underware was founded in 1999 by Akiem Helmling, Bas Jacobs and Sami Kortemäki, and is based in Den Haag, Amsterdam and Helsinki.

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Bas Jacobs
Born in Wanssum, the Netherlands, 1976. Studied visual communication at the art academy Academy of Visual Arts in Maastricht and followed the post-graduate course typography and type design at the Royal Academy of Art Den Haag. Lives in Amsterdam, the Netherlands. Speaks with a Southern accent. Interested in languages. And dialects. And slang. And scripts. And alphabets. And type. Of course. Likes to ride a bike instead of a car. As fast as possible. Personal motto: everything is mental.

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