a typeface made of the smallest set of decisions, each one taken once, by eye, and then simply obeyed by everything that comes after it.
most type is drawn letter by letter. a designer sets the H, then the O, then spends years teaching the rest of the alphabet to agree with them. the agreements are made by hand: a curve nudged here, a stem thickened there, a pair of letters pushed closer because together they look too far apart. every fix is local, and every fix is a small admission that the system underneath did not quite hold.
under starts from the other end. it asks what the fewest principles are that could produce a whole alphabet, and then it refuses to draw anything those principles do not already imply. a stem is a stem everywhere. a bowl meets a stem the same way in b, d, p and q. the weight a letter gains from thin to black is one number, and the marks and signs inherit it.
when something looks wrong, the instinct is to fix the letter. here the rule is to fix the principle instead, and to watch the whole alphabet move with it. that is slower on a tuesday and much faster over a year. it also means the font can grow: a new glyph is written as a recipe, not drawn, and it arrives already belonging to its neighbours.
kerning is the clearest test. a font that needs thousands of pairs is a font whose spacing is being corrected after the fact. under keeps one kerning rule, for the places where shapes genuinely cannot meet otherwise: the open side of a T over a lowercase o, the diagonals of A and V, a comma tucked under a Y.
everything else should simply sit right. if it does not, the spacing is wrong, and the spacing is what gets fixed.
<!-- official cdn -->
<link rel="preconnect" href="https://under.bicycle.computer">
<link rel="stylesheet" href="https://under.bicycle.computer/under.css">
<style>
:root {
font-family: 'under', sans-serif;
}
</style>
weight
100
the font offers alternative letterforms that can be accessed manually for stylistic variation
superscript (sups): raises text to superscript position (e.g., x²). subscript (subs): lowers text to subscript position (e.g., H₂O).
custom spacing pairs for precision, and auto letter-spacing for balanced flow. auto-letter spacing is adjusted per weight for optimal readability.
clean lines, easy to read. no fancy stuff just clarity and function.
specifically optimized for 16px to ensure crisp rendering auto-sizing for small text for better legibility.
under comes in three cuts: display, text, micro. display goes tight and sharp. micro opens up less contrast, more air. text sits in between, holding the balance.
under comes in three cuts: display, text, micro. display goes tight and sharp. micro opens up less contrast, more air. text sits in between, holding the balance.
under comes in three cuts: display, text, micro. display goes tight and sharp. micro opens up less contrast, more air. text sits in between, holding the balance.
from hairline to black to suit various design needs. designed to adapt seamlessly, whether for minimal elegance or striking statements