01 / DYMAXION SPAN
Dymaxion Span
One of the clock styles · 190px clock line
Long horizontal strokes, clipped hexagonal corners and even spacing, drawn for the full width of the Pebble Time 2.
Try it in the workshop ↗DYMAXION / TYPE STUDY
Type study
Dymaxion Span, the earlier Draft cut and three reference typefaces, each set on the same watch face at 200 × 228 pixels, for comparing curves, spacing and rhythm.
02 / DYMAXION DRAFT
Dymaxion Draft
No longer on the watch · 28px numerals / 7px Micro
Soft, squared bowls and a few triangular details. Its zone figures and small lettering are still used on the watch.
Open the workshop ↗03 / REFERENCE
Alegreya Sans
The humanist reference
Calligraphic proportions, tapered strokes and lively figures. The most handwritten of the references.
Juan Pablo del Peral / Huerta Tipográfica ↗04 / REFERENCE
Fira Sans
The instrument reference
Open apertures and steady shapes. A reference for small labels and clock numerals.
Carrois / Edenspiekermann ↗05 / REFERENCE
Recursive Sans
The informal reference
A little of its Casual axis on an orderly structure. The study shows how much of it survives at watch size.
Stephen Nixon / ArrowType ↗What to look for
Compare the space around the colon, the shape of 2 and 4, the openings in 6 and 9, and the rhythm of 11:11 against 08:08. Clock numerals have equal advances; letters keep their natural widths.
Oldstyle figures rise and fall like lowercase letters. Span has lining numerals only, because stable positions make the large time easier to read. Try the oldstyle option on the other studies. Recursive also has no oldstyle set.
The nameplate script is drawn directly on a 124 × 17 pixel grid, with a wide, low lowercase and horizontal joins. It is decoration; the readouts use the information lettering.
These are bitmap proofs using the same FreeType monochrome loading flags as Pebble's SDK. Span and Draft have exact pixel masters, with FreeType round-trip checks for every glyph. Span takes substantial inspiration from Seth Haller's Dymaxion v.1 without using its outlines. Physical e-paper readability remains to be checked on a watch. The reference fonts retain their designers' authorship and SIL Open Font Licenses.