Emtype Foundry

Updated: September 11, 2026

Emtype Foundry sells digital typefaces, run by Barcelona-based designer Eduardo Manso, an AGI member since 2010. The catalogue spans grotesques (Geogrotesque, Approach, Aribau), serifs (Relato Serif, Ciutadella Display, Ciutadella Slab), slabs (Akkordeon Slab, Geogrotesque Slab) and display faces including a current release, Eternia, promoted under the line “The serif is back.” Custom type design is offered separately, with past work for Qantas Airways, Puma Football and The Sunday Times. Free trial versions are available before purchase. Built on a custom storefront with a shopping cart and account system.

Website Design

Black ground, white type, one red accent. The homepage runs a near-black background under bold white display type, broken by a single orange-red banner used for the current release’s buy link. Interface text is set in the foundry’s own CiutadellaText and CiutadellaBold webfonts rather than a system stack.

Specimens as the primary content. Rather than lifestyle photography, pages are built from live type specimens: the Eternia launch page sets a run of nostalgic tech terms, PalmPilot PDA, MiniDisc player, Sony Discman, VHS camcorder, each line in a different weight and style of the typeface being sold.

Small utility icons throughout. A custom icon font (labelled emtype-icons in the site’s stylesheet) supplies small glyphs for interface actions like search, cart and account, keeping the visual language consistent with the typographic focus of the product.

Shopping Experience

Family pricing set against version notes. The Eternia family is offered as a single purchase, shown in the cart as 399 EUR net and gross, with version numbers (v0.1 and similar) displayed next to each weight, signalling the font is still in active development.

A traditional account-first cart. Checkout asks returning customers to log in or asks new customers to fill a long form, including an EU VAT number field, before payment by card, debit, PayPal or bank transfer over 500 EUR.

Free trials lowered as a real navigation item. Free Trials sits in the main header alongside Fonts, Custom, Blog and About, rather than being buried inside individual product pages.

Brand Storytelling

A single named designer, not a studio. The foundry is presented as the work of Eduardo Manso specifically, with his AGI membership stated as a credential rather than a generic “our team” bio.

Custom work is shown as a portfolio. The footer’s Custom column lists dozens of past commissioned typefaces by client name, including Puma Football, Qantas Airways and Munich Airport, functioning as a client list rather than a services pitch.

Notable Features

Variable font support flagged per family. Several fonts in the catalogue are marked for variable font versions, a technical detail surfaced directly on the shop grid rather than buried in specs.

A long-running foundry. The footer copyright reads “Emtype Foundry SL, 2002-2026,” giving the operation a visible multi-decade history.

A dedicated Variable Fonts page. The footer’s Help column links out to Variable Fonts as its own destination, alongside Licenses, Free Trials and Cookies, treating the format as a selling point rather than a footnote.