The Average Font combines hundreds of characters into a single typeface
New York artist and designer Moritz Resl has compiled a new "ghostly" typeface by overlaying each letter of the alphabet from over 900 existing font families (+ slideshow).
![The Average Font by Moritz Resl](https://static.dezeen.com/uploads/2014/08/The-Average-Font-by-Moritz-Resl_dezeen_468_4.jpg)
Moritz Resl's project, The Average Font, combined every individual letter of the alphabet from more than 900 typefaces that were installed on his computer system.
He wrote a simple software application that scanned his digital type library and then deposited the versions of every character from a to z into the exact same spot. These were placed with a low opacity, providing an overlapping effect.
![The Average Font by Moritz Resl](https://static.dezeen.com/uploads/2014/08/The-Average-Font-by-Moritz-Resl_dezeen_468_7.jpg)
"I wanted to somehow grasp the 'essence' of my typefaces and what they had in common," Resl told Dezeen. "I didn't exclude the ugly ones."
![The Average Font by Moritz Resl](https://static.dezeen.com/uploads/2014/08/The-Average-Font-by-Moritz-Resl_dezeen_468_10.jpg)
"The visual result is a kind of sum of all overlapping parts," he continued. "I'm quite happy with the results from a visual point of view. The characters' shapes have once been described as 'ghostly' and the project as typographic poetry – I think that's quite accurate. To me, it's a piece of art hanging on walls rather than an actual font."
![The Average Font by Moritz Resl](https://static.dezeen.com/uploads/2014/08/The-Average-Font-by-Moritz-Resl_dezeen_468_14.jpg)
Because typography is a daily consideration for Resl, his idea for The Average Font surfaced organically. "In my work as an artist and designer, I have to deal with typography almost on a daily basis," he explained. "The urge to explore this matter in one way or the other came quite naturally."
![The Average Font by Moritz Resl](https://static.dezeen.com/uploads/2014/08/The-Average-Font-by-Moritz-Resl_dezeen_468_20.jpg)
Although Resl concedes this particular typeface will probably be too blurry for general use outside of the project, the designer is working on another font based on a similar process – but admits "some compromises" will need to be made in order for it to work.
![The Average Font by Moritz Resl](https://static.dezeen.com/uploads/2014/08/The-Average-Font-by-Moritz-Resl_dezeen_468_26.jpg)
There could be other potential uses for blending font families together with this merging technique, and the designer intends to experiment further.
"There are a lot of possibilities," Resl said. "It would be interesting to try a version with only serif fonts and only non serifs. In addition, [typographer and designer] Erik Spiekermann suggested to me on Twitter to exclusively try regular cuts. The good thing is I can create a new version at any point in time, my collection of fonts is constantly growing with no end in sight."