commonsans (1.1)
commonsans
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In 2021, Xiaoyuan became intrigued by the phenomenon of ink bleed as seen in the printed text on mass-produced items, such as the text on eggshells, capacitors, and expiration dates on food packaging. Initially, she wanted to emulate this ink bleed effect on typeface, but due to her technical limitations at the time, she was unable to find a satisfactory way to replicate it. The idea persisted in her mind for a loooong time, and finally, through continuous practice in and sheer stubbornness, she made another attempt. This led to the creation of commonSans.  

字体灵感来源于「在批量生产的产品表面上印刷的实用信息」，例如鸡蛋壳上的字，小型电容器上的信息，以及各种食品包装上的保质期。这些字多少都会有点晕墨。Xiaoyuan非常喜欢这个晕墨后字体所呈现的型态，2021年的时候她就想做有晕墨感觉的字了。由于当时自己技术有限，没能找到合适的方法做出来，但是她没放弃，这几年一边做着比较实验型的字体设计，一方面也在练习做一点可读性比较好的字⋯⋯于是就有了今天的commonSans ：）

Year: 2024

Designer: Xiaoyuan Gao

1 style

Xiaoyuan Gao (She/Her) is a Rotterdam-based freelance graphic designer, image-maker, type designer and the initiator of “notyourtype foundry”. In her practice, she loves experimenting with unconventional approaches to type design and typesetting. She sees type design (making custom characters into a font file) as making a tool for typing, just like a customised typewriter. She also enjoys creating visuals out of found images , which allows her to combine typography and imagery in playful ways.

If you'd like to support Xiaoyuan in operating the NotYourType foundry, assisting FLINTA designers in publishing their type design work, and contributing to open-source type design, please consider making a donation via
This PayPal Link. Thank you! <3

Contact Xiaoyuan Gao

Sizes preview

320px

sense

160px

sans

120px

sans

90px

The lazy dogs jumped over the quick brown fox. 1234567890 or click here to type something. :-)

40px

commonsans

60px

commonsans

90px

commonsans

120px

commonsans

Glyphset

Text Editor

Aa
64pt
line Height
1.7
kerning
0pt
You can type here.

Specimen

commonsans
commonsans
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commonsans

Buy commonsans (1.1)

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Not sure yet? Request a trial version of commonsans

After more than two years of offering trial fonts, we have concluded that this initiative does not provide any tangible benefits. Our experience has shown a problematic lack of transparency in how people treat the trial fonts. As a small type foundry, we have very limited control over this situation. Individuals who download our trial fonts seldom engage with our follow-up communications, often lacking courtesy. Consequently, we have decided to discontinue offering trial fonts at NotYourType Foundry. This decision is final and will remain unchanged regardless of any inquiries or emails we receive.

However, you can still try the font by clicking on the "Text Editor" to type and experiment there. Please understand that as designers, our earnings from our experimental type design endeavors are minimal. The offering of trial fonts has only placed us in a more vulnerable position, with some individuals exploiting this generosity by using the fonts without purchasing the necessary licenses. This situation is disheartening, and as a result, we will no longer provide trial fonts.