I released Basenji on August 1, 2022. The name came from my childhood dog, a Basenji named Canda. The design was rooted in the modular geometric styles of the 1970s, drawing inspiration from figures like Joe Taylor and Herb Lubalin. I wanted to capture some of that era’s flavor while avoiding the eccentricities of Pump or the quirks of Churchward. Unlike those designs, Basenji avoids gaps and extreme inconsistencies; the result is a more conservative, polished take on the genre.

The family launched with nine weights and italics. On October 5, 2022, I issued an update that refined the kerning, reworked the italics, and added more styles. At the same time, I began preparing a variable version. Producing it required a substantial rebuild because the interpolation shortcuts I had relied on earlier would not hold up. Adobe Creative Cloud carried the exclusive variable release for about a year before other vendors began distributing it in 2023.

Basenji has not yet had time to establish a record of adoption, so it is still unclear how widely it will be used. There have been no further updates or licensing changes since its 2022 release. For me, Basenji represents an attempt to temper the exuberance of 1970s modular lettering with a more refined sensibility, while still keeping the connection to that period clear.