Meet Displaay’s typeface Booton, a must-have in every modern designer’s toolkit

In a world saturated with sans serifs, Displaay’s uniwidth typeface Booton sets itself apart by seamlessly blending flexibility, consistency, clarity and style – making it a go-to typeface for the digital age. The brainchild of Type Designer Daniel Quisek, Booton was crafted with the modern designer’s needs in mind.

The first sketch dates back to August 2021, when Quisek noticed a gap in the market for a versatile, uniwidth typeface that balances user-friendly design with robust functionality. With the help of Type Designer Viktor Mizera and manual hinting by Renegade Fonts, he began crafting a typeface that caters to today’s fast-paced digital environments. “We couldn’t find a uniwidth typeface that offered a straightforward and customer-friendly design across a range of applications. Most options were either too niche or didn’t quite hit the mark for versatility and consistency,” explains Quisek. Booton was designed to fill that gap, offering a clean, modern look that serves multiple purposes without sacrificing design aesthetics, functionality or legibility.

Digital environments impose unique demands on typefaces, especially when it comes to legibility. One of the biggest challenges Quisek faced was striking the right balance between the typeface’s extremes. “The Thin style had to be light but not flimsy, while the Heavy needed to be bold without turning into a block,” he says. Achieving this balance required careful adjustment to make sure each weight remained legible and consistent across all styles. Three years of tweaking later, Booton now has just the right mix of clarity and impact.

What truly sets the typeface apart are the subtle design decisions that enhance both form and function. Take the higher x-height, for instance, which increases readability, particularly in smaller text sizes like captions. “It means the lowercase letters take up more vertical space, making them easier to read in tight spots,” Quisek notes.

Cropped diagonals in letters like ‘v’, ‘w’ and ‘y’ serve a dual purpose – keeping the character widths compact, especially in the bolder styles, while maintaining a clean and modern aesthetic by softening sharp angles. “It was a practical move to keep the text feeling clean and snug, even in the heavier weights,” adds Quisek. 

Booton also features sharp-edged corners in glyphs such as ‘f,’ ‘g’ and ‘Q’ to give it a distinctive look. “We wanted the typeface to feel sharp and precise, something that stands out with a bit of edge. It’s these little details that make Booton feel current and different from other typefaces that go for softer, rounder shapes,” he notes.

Cropped diagonals in letters like ‘v’, ‘w’ and ‘y’ serve a dual purpose – keeping the character widths compact, especially in the bolder styles, while maintaining a clean and modern aesthetic by softening sharp angles. “It was a practical move to keep the text feeling clean and snug, even in the heavier weights,” adds Quisek. 

The typeface also features legibility-focused elements like ink traps, a detail more relevant to the world of print design, but which helps the letters stay clear, even at smaller sizes, and on digital screens as well. Another playful detail is the tapered end of the lowercase ‘l,’ designed to avoid confusion with the uppercase ‘I.’ This tiny tweak improves readability, especially when both characters appear side by side. “It’s a small change, but it makes a big difference,” says Quisek. These tiny yet impactful design decisions elevate Booton to a versatile typeface that works beautifully both on and off screen.

Every design process has its surprises, and for Quisek, one of the unexpected discoveries was how few typefaces mix closed and open terminals within a single glyph, a standout feature in Booton’s design. And the most rewarding part? “Seeing how all these little design choices came together,” he says. “It’s great to have a typeface that fills a gap in the market but also feels fresh and versatile.” 

While Booton was primarily built for digital interfaces, Quisek is excited to see its application in physical spaces. As he envisions, “I’d love to see it out in the real world. It’s got the potential for wayfinding systems, signage – basically anywhere that needs clear, modern type.”

To showcase Booton’s unique features in an engaging way, Displaay partnered with Creative Nights to create a microsite. To give viewers a taste of the typeface, they developed an interactive game where Booton meets Tetris. Through the game, the foundry highlights Booton’s distinct characteristics while demonstrating its practical use in real-world scenarios, focusing on the typeface’s ability to maintain consistent line lengths across different weights, and transforming the act of discovering its features into an interactive and enjoyable experience.