I introduced Almonte on December 23, 1999. It was a quick, top-of-the-dome attempt at a wooden sans look, created entirely digitally without reference to actual wood type. I just imagined how it should look and built it from scratch with digital tools.

I released the family in three finishes: standard, wood grain, and snow. At the time, I saw it as a free alternative to fonts like Poplar, since there weren’t many no-cost options for that bold poster style. Rather than trying to be authentic, I exaggerated the forms, making them clunky and dumpy — because sometimes a typeface needs to lean into “ugly” to hit the right note.

The name comes from Almonte, Ontario, where my sister lives, which felt fitting for a design with a rural character. Almonte was immediately popular and ended up on product labels, restaurant signs, and plenty of websites. I’ve also seen it used in mock-ups imitating old-fashioned wood poster styles.

It wasn’t the only time I tried this kind of exaggerated rustic design. Bench Grinder, which came later, was even more clunky and strange. In April 2024, I placed Almonte in the public domain so it could continue circulating freely.