Xenara

I released Xenara on November 7, 2005. The BBC had requested a computer-like typeface for a children’s program, which prompted the design. I based it on the rounded forms of calculator, computer, and typewriter keycaps, giving it a technical look that leaned more toward techno and futuristic styling than the originals. From the beginning, I included alternate characters such as a barless A and a trident M. Xenara was released as a paid font, and the BBC made use of it, though I am not aware of other notable uses.

In 2021, I updated Xenara by removing deprecated characters such as L with dot and E with breve. The reversed quotation marks—sometimes called painter’s quotes—were replaced with proper forms, though the older shapes remain available at Unicode 201B and 201F. The ellipsis was narrowed to a more reasonable width. I also adjusted the stylistic alternates feature so it could be accessed more reliably in software like InDesign under Stylistic Set #1. Vertical metrics were revised to improve browser compatibility, with no scaling changes needed. In 2022, I added italics to the family, expanding its range of uses.