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An ultra-condensed
sans built on a height axis.

Pronounced plah-KAH-tuh —
German for "posters"

Pronounced plah-KAH-tuh —
German for "posters"

Designer

Michael Cina

2021

Plakate is an ultra-condensed sans family of five weights. The strokes thin, the widths narrow, the spacing tightens, and the typeface compresses on more than one axis at a time. Thin runs tallest, narrowest, and most graphic. Medium the widest within the family, and most architectural. The DNA is Swiss. Emil Ruder is an influence, both his book Typographie and his poster work, where a similar approach to extreme proportion appears. The shape came first. Ultra-thin, ultra-tall, almost architectural. Cina drew it several times for projects in the early 2000s before building it out as a family in 2021.

Family Size

5 Styles: Roman

Features

12 stylistic sets, multiple figure styles, ligatures, super and subscript numbers, symbols, arrows, enclosed alphanumerics and letters, and extra character alternates.

Character sets

Latin Extended. ~625 glyphs per weight. 339 languages.

Licensing

Desktop/Print, Web, Content, App/Game, Logo/Wordmark, Core Media, All Media. Custom License Available.

Formats

OTF, WOFF2, Variable (based on license type)

 
Regular
Shuffle
Plakate/AaBbCcDdEeFfGgHhIiJjKkLlMmNnOoPpQqRrSsTtUuVvWwXxYyZz
1234567890!@#$%
 
Shuffle
Plakate/AaBbCcDdEeFfGgHhIiJjKkLlMmNnOoPpQqRrSsTtUuVvWwXxYyZz
1234567890!@#$%

Plakate is an ultra-condensed sans in five weights, built around a height axis where weight, width, and spacing shift together across the family, designed for poster and display work where compression is treated as a spectrum.

Variable type description

Variable type description

Plakate Standard Variable
Axis
0
AaBbCc01234567890!@#$%^&*()
AaBbCc01234567890!@#$%^&*()
Plakate

The tallest and narrowest cut. The stroke weight is at its finest here, which is also the weight of the accents in Medium. Most graphic in character, most active as typographic texture. Built for large-scale poster work where the height axis can stretch fully.

 
Regular
Size
300
Leading
0.90
Tracking
0.000em
OT Features
No features available

There are plenty of compressed sans. None of them do this.

 
Regular

There are plenty of compressed sans. None of them do this.

 
Regular
Size
300
Leading
0.90
Tracking
0.000em
OT Features
No features available

The lighter it gets, the taller it grows.

 
Regular

The lighter it gets, the taller it grows.

 
Regular
Size
300
Leading
0.90
Tracking
0.000em
OT Features
No features available

Alternates change the typeface. They expand the system.

 
Regular

Alternates change the typeface. They expand the system.

Value

01

Plakate is a display tool. Compression here does graphic work, carrying weight in identity, editorial, and poster settings. Plakate moves height, width, weight, and spacing together across the family. The five weights sit at five different proportions.

Value

01

Plakate is a display tool. Compression here does graphic work, carrying weight in identity, editorial, and poster settings. Plakate moves height, width, weight, and spacing together across the family. The five weights sit at five different proportions.

Value

02

The stroke thickness of Thin matches the accent thickness of Medium. The system is built to mix, so weights can sit alongside each other within a single composition without breaking the rhythm.

Value

02

The stroke thickness of Thin matches the accent thickness of Medium. The system is built to mix, so weights can sit alongside each other within a single composition without breaking the rhythm.

Value

03

A wide range of stylistic sets extends the family past its five weights. Thin wide alternates pair with Thin and contrast against Medium. Dotted forms, hooked characters, and reshaped letters give designers real room to restyle.

Value

03

A wide range of stylistic sets extends the family past its five weights. Thin wide alternates pair with Thin and contrast against Medium. Dotted forms, hooked characters, and reshaped letters give designers real room to restyle.
 
Regular
Size
300
Leading
0.90
Tracking
0.000em
OT Features
No features available

Geometric, not historical. Built for contrast.

 
Regular

Geometric, not historical. Built for contrast.

 
Regular
Size
300
Leading
0.90
Tracking
0.000em
OT Features
No features available

A graphic instrument doesn't owe legibility at small sizes.

 
Regular

A graphic instrument doesn't owe legibility at small sizes.

 
Regular
Size
300
Leading
0.90
Tracking
0.000em
OT Features
No features available

The shape that wouldn't go away.

 
Regular

The shape that wouldn't go away.

 
Regular
Size
72
Leading
1.00
Tracking
0.000em
OT Features
No features available

Plakate is an ultra-condensed sans in five weights, built around a height axis where weight, height, width, and spacing shift together across the family, designed for poster and display work where compression is treated as a spectrum rather than a fixed proportion.

 
Regular

Plakate is an ultra-condensed sans in five weights, built around a height axis where weight, height, width, and spacing shift together across the family, designed for poster and display work where compression is treated as a spectrum rather than a fixed proportion.

 
Regular
Size
28
Leading
1.15
Tracking
0.000em
OT Features
No features available

Plakate treats compression as a spectrum. Each weight is optically tuned to its own set of proportions, and everything moves at once. As the family gets lighter, the strokes thin out, the widths narrow, and the spacing tightens to match. Thin runs tallest, narrowest, and most graphic. Medium sits shortest, widest within the family, and most architectural. The three weights between them shift gradually across all of these axes. The result is a family where designers get a real choice about density, presence, and rhythm. The stroke thickness of Thin matches the accent thickness of Medium, so weights mix cleanly within a single composition. Letters from either end of the family can sit alongside each other without breaking the rhythm.The stylistic sets extend the family letting designers restyle Plakate without leaving it. Cina drew this for projects in the early 2000s before building it out as a family in 2021. Emil Ruder is an influence. Cina learned graphic design through his book Typographie. The systematic thinking, the attention to proportion, the conviction that a typeface is a tool for designers all exists in Plakate.

 
Regular

Plakate treats compression as a spectrum. Each weight is optically tuned to its own set of proportions, and everything moves at once. As the family gets lighter, the strokes thin out, the widths narrow, and the spacing tightens to match. Thin runs tallest, narrowest, and most graphic. Medium sits shortest, widest within the family, and most architectural. The three weights between them shift gradually across all of these axes. The result is a family where designers get a real choice about density, presence, and rhythm. The stroke thickness of Thin matches the accent thickness of Medium, so weights mix cleanly within a single composition. Letters from either end of the family can sit alongside each other without breaking the rhythm.The stylistic sets extend the family letting designers restyle Plakate without leaving it. Cina drew this for projects in the early 2000s before building it out as a family in 2021. Emil Ruder is an influence. Cina learned graphic design through his book Typographie. The systematic thinking, the attention to proportion, the conviction that a typeface is a tool for designers all exists in Plakate.

Michael Cina

 
Regular
Michael Cina’s work exists at the intersection of design, typography, branding, strategy, and art. This uncommon mix allows him to see differently and direct ideas with purpose. Decades of moving fluidly between disciplines have shaped an approach that blends instinct with strategy, intuition with clarity, and expression with systems thinking. An internationally recognized Creative Director and Artist, Michael leads the multi-disciplinary studio Cina Associates. His work spans global brands including Disney, Apple, American Express, ESPN, Pepsi, Coca-Cola, Hewlett-Packard, and Microsoft. Across his career, he has synthesized typography, branding, illustration, motion, web, music, photography, and type design into cohesive systems that perform across platforms and cultures. His work has been widely published, recognized with Emmy and Grammy honors, and he is a frequent speaker at global design conferences, sharing a point of view rooted in authorship, clarity, and long-term brand thinking.
 
Regular
I built Plakate as a tool I wanted to design with. There are plenty of compressed sans on the market, but none of them did what I was after. I'd been drawing ultra-condensed letterforms for projects since the early 2000s, one-off headlines, single words on a poster, lettering for specific jobs. The shape kept returning. Ultra-thin, ultra-tall, almost architectural. By 2021 I had drawn the same proportions enough times that it stopped making sense to keep rebuilding them. So I built the family. What I wanted was compression as a spectrum. Five weights, each with its own height, its own width, its own spacing. The lightest is the tallest and narrowest. The heaviest is the shortest and widest. The family moves across multiple axes at once. That was the design goal from the start. The stroke-to-accent logic came out of the same thinking. If Thin and Medium were going to have different proportions, they needed a way to coexist in a single composition. I drew the family against a rule: the stroke of Thin matches the accent of Medium. Once that held, the weights could mix. Emil Ruder is in the DNA. I learned graphic design through his book Typographie, and his way of thinking about systems shaped how I work. Plakate carries that influence through the systematic logic, the attention to proportion, the conviction that a typeface is a tool for designers, etc. The stylistic sets are where the family opens up. Alternate characters throughout the family let you restyle it without leaving it. Thin wide forms that pair with Thin and contrast against Medium. Dotted variants. Reshaped letters. There are a lot of options worth looking through. Plakate is a tool I needed, maybe you may need it too.
 
Regular
I built Plakate as a tool I wanted to design with. There are plenty of compressed sans on the market, but none of them did what I was after. I'd been drawing ultra-condensed letterforms for projects since the early 2000s, one-off headlines, single words on a poster, lettering for specific jobs. The shape kept returning. Ultra-thin, ultra-tall, almost architectural. By 2021 I had drawn the same proportions enough times that it stopped making sense to keep rebuilding them. So I built the family. What I wanted was compression as a spectrum. Five weights, each with its own height, its own width, its own spacing. The lightest is the tallest and narrowest. The heaviest is the shortest and widest. The family moves across multiple axes at once. That was the design goal from the start. The stroke-to-accent logic came out of the same thinking. If Thin and Medium were going to have different proportions, they needed a way to coexist in a single composition. I drew the family against a rule: the stroke of Thin matches the accent of Medium. Once that held, the weights could mix. Emil Ruder is in the DNA. I learned graphic design through his book Typographie, and his way of thinking about systems shaped how I work. Plakate carries that influence through the systematic logic, the attention to proportion, the conviction that a typeface is a tool for designers, etc. The stylistic sets are where the family opens up. Alternate characters throughout the family let you restyle it without leaving it. Thin wide forms that pair with Thin and contrast against Medium. Dotted variants. Reshaped letters. There are a lot of options worth looking through. Plakate is a tool I needed, maybe you may need it too.

Michael Cina

2021

Family

Plakate

Designers

Michael Cina

Release

2021

Family Size

5 Styles: Roman

Features

12 stylistic sets, multiple figure styles, ligatures, super and subscript numbers, symbols, arrows, enclosed alphanumerics and letters, and extra character alternates.

Character Set

Latin Extended. ~625 glyphs per weight. 339 languages.

Formats

OTF, WOFF2, Variable (based on license type)

Licensing

Desktop/Print, Web, Content, App/Game, Logo/Wordmark, Core Media, All Media. Custom License Available.

Supported Languages

Acheron, Achinese, Acholi, Achuar-Shiwiar, Afar, Afrikaans, Aguaruna, Ahtna, Alekano, Aleut, Algonquin, Amahuaca, Amarakaeri, Amis, Anaang, Andaandi, Anuta, Ao Naga, Apinayé, Aragonese, Arbëreshë Albanian, Arvanitika Albanian, Asháninka, Ashéninka Perené, Asu (Tanzania), Atayal, Awetí, Balinese, Banjar, Bari, Basque, Batak Dairi, Batak Karo, Batak Mandailing, Batak Simalungun, Batak Toba, Bemba (Zambia), Bena (Tanzania), Bikol, Bislama, Borana-Arsi-Guji Oromo, Bosnian, Breton, Buginese, Candoshi-Shapra, Caquinte, Caribbean Hindustani, Cashibo-Cacataibo, Cashinahua, Catalan, Cebuano, Central Aymara, Central Kurdish, Chachi, Chamorro, Chavacano, Chiga, Chiltepec Chinantec, Chokwe, Chuukese, Cimbrian, Cofán, Congo Swahili, Cook Islands Māori, Cornish, Corsican, Creek, Crimean Tatar, Croatian, Czech, Danish, Dehu, Dimli, Dutch, Eastern Arrernte, Eastern Oromo, Embu, English, Ese Ejja, Esperanto, Falam Chin, Faroese, Fijian, Filipino, Finnish, French, Friulian, Gagauz, Galician, Ganda, Garifuna, Ga'anda, German, Gheg Albanian, Gilbertese, Gooniyandi, Gourmanchéma, Guadeloupean Creole French, Gusii, Haitian, Hakha Chin, Hani, Hiligaynon, Ho-Chunk, Hopi, Huastec, Hungarian, Hän, Icelandic, Ido, Iloko, Inari Sami, Indonesian, Interglossa, Interlingua, Interlingue, Irish, Istro Romanian, Italian, Ixcatlán Mazatec, Jamaican Creole English, Javanese, Jola-Fonyi, K'iche', Kabuverdianu, Kaingang, Kalaallisut, Kalenjin, Kamba (Kenya), Kaonde, Kaqchikel, Karelian, Kashubian, Kekchí, Kenzi/Mattokki, Khasi, Kikuyu, Kimbundu, Kinyarwanda, Kirmanjki, Kituba (DRC), Klingon, Kongo, Konzo, Kuanyama, Kven Finnish, Kölsch, Ladin, Ladino, Latgalian, Ligurian, Lithuanian, Lojban, Lombard, Low German, Lower Sorbian, Lozi, Luba-Lulua, Lule Sami, Luo (Kenya and Tanzania), Luxembourgish, Macedo-Romanian, Madurese, Makhuwa, Makhuwa-Meetto, Makonde, Makwe, Malagasy, Malaysian, Maltese, Mandinka, Mandjak, Mankanya, Manx, Maore Comorian, Maori, Mapudungun, Marshallese, Matsés, Mauritian Creole, Meriam Mir, Meru, Minangkabau, Mirandese, Mizo, Mohawk, Montenegrin, Munsee, Murrinh-Patha, Muslim Tat, Mwani, Mískito, Naga Pidgin, Ndonga, Neapolitan, Ngazidja Comorian, Niuean, Nobiin, Nomatsiguenga, North Azerbaijani, North Ndebele, Northern Kurdish, Northern Qiandong Miao, Northern Sami, Northern Uzbek, Northwestern Ojibwa, Norwegian, Novial, Nyanja, Nyankole, Occitan, Ojitlán Chinantec, Orma, Oroqen, Otuho, Palauan, Paluan, Pampanga, Papantla Totonac, Papiamento, Paraguayan Guaraní, Pedi, Picard, Pichis Ashéninka, Piemontese, Pijin, Pintupi-Luritja, Pipil, Pite Sami, Pohnpeian, Polish, Portuguese, Potawatomi, Purepecha, Páez, Quechua, Romanian, Romansh, Rotokas, Rundi, Rwa, Samburu, Samoan, Sango, Sangu (Tanzania), Saramaccan, Sardinian, Scots, Scottish Gaelic, Sena, Seri, Seselwa Creole French, Shambala, Shawnee, Shipibo-Conibo, Shona, Shuar, Sicilian, Silesian, Slovak, Slovenian, Soga, Somali, Soninke, South Azerbaijani, South Ndebele, Southern Aymara, Southern Qiandong Miao, Southern Sami, Southern Sotho, Spanish, Sranan Tongo, Standard Estonian, Standard Latvian, Standard Malay, Sundanese, Swahili, Swati, Swedish, Swiss German, Tagalog, Tahitian, Taita, Talysh, Tedim Chin, Tetum, Tetun Dili, Tiv, Toba, Tojolabal, Tok Pisin, Tokelau, Toki Pona, Tonga (Tonga Islands), Tonga (Zambia), Tosk Albanian, Tsakhur, Tsonga, Tswana, Tumbuka, Turkish, Turkmen, Tuvalu, Tzeltal, Tzotzil, Uab Meto, Umbundu, Ume Sami, Upper Guinea Crioulo, Upper Sorbian, Venetian, Veps, Volapük, Võro, Walloon, Walser, Wangaaybuwan-Ngiyambaa, Waorani, Waray (Philippines), Warlpiri, Wayuu, Welsh, West Central Oromo, Western Abnaki, Western Frisian, Wik-Mungkan, Wiradjuri, Wolof, Xavánte, Xhosa, Yanesha', Yao, Yapese, Yindjibarndi, Yucateco, Zapotec, Zulu, Zuni, Záparo