TX-02 Berkeley Mono™ Typeface

6 min read Original article ↗

Products / Typefaces

TypefaceTX-02

Berkeley Mono™ is a love letter to the golden era of computing. The era that gave rise to a generation of people who celebrated automation and reveled in the joy of computing, when transistors replaced cogs, and machine-readable typefaces were developed, for when humans and machines truly interfaced on an unprecedented scale.

It wears a UNIX T-shirt and aspires to be etched on control panels in black synthetic lacquer. It is Adrian Frutiger visits Bell Labs. It is Gene Kranz's command. It operates with calibrated precision and has a datasheet.

Berkeley Mono is a typeface for professionals.

TX-02 Berkeley Mono™ Marketing - Intro Slide

Engineered for Code


By software engineers, for software engineers.

Berkeley Mono is thoroughly tested and has written production code during its entire development cycle. Engineered for reading and writing code, Berkeley Mono™ has excellent legibility, distinct but not distracting glyphs and a comfortable line-height. It is fitted with care to make sure it can perform as well as proportional typefaces whilst being 100% monospaced.

It's boring. It's good.

Berkeley Mono™ Marketing - Code Symbols

Unlike any other


Berkeley Mono™ Marketing - Unique Poster Slide

Berkeley Mono coalesces the objectivity of machine-readable typefaces of the 70's while simultaneously retaining the humanist sans-serif qualities. Inspired by the legendary typefaces of the past, Berkeley Mono offers exceptional straightforwardness and clarity in its form. Its purpose is to make the user productive and get out of the way.

There is nothing like it.

Berkeley Mono™ Marketing - Unique Comparison Slide

Box Drawing Characters


Berkeley Mono™ Marketing - Box Drawing Diagram Slide

Tribute to the Golden Era


Some say Berkeley Mono evokes a warm and fuzzy feeling of interacting with vintage technologies. The glow of cathode ray tubes, the wonderful tactility of a well-made rotary encoder, and the calm of static user interfaces. Perhaps. But Berkeley Mono is functional first. It doubles down on reliability of existing forms and refines it. It is comforting yet stern, disciplined yet easy, regimented yet flexible. It is old school, understated and unfashionable. Maybe it is timeless.

Berkeley Mono™ Marketing - Vintage Glyphs Slide

International - Wide Language Support


Berkeley Mono™ Marketing - Language Support Slide

Berkeley Mono™ Marketing - Language Diatrics Slide

Berkeley Mono™ Marketing - Language German Slide

Exceptional legibility


Berkeley Mono truly shines in use cases where legibility is important. Want to write a user manual or a movie script? It is fantastic for that. Berkeley Mono's design has a careful balance between letter-spacing and monospaced fitting. It makes reading long form prose effortless.

It will perform just as well for designing Submarine EXIT signs as for a precision Japanese restaurant menu. Genetic sequencies look great. Nuclear power plant control panels? Not a problem.

Berkeley Mono v2 is available in 5 widths, 12 weights and 2 slants. Variable fonts are also available taking advantage of all 3 axes: width(wdth), weight(wght) and slant(slnt).

Berkeley Mono™ Marketing - Numbers table

Subfamilies, Styles and Cuts


Berkeley Mono™ Marketing - Legibility Cuts Slide

Berkeley Mono™ Marketing - Legibility Cuts Slide

Ligatures, we have them!


We offer 150+ ligatures for people that like them. Berkeley Mono ligatures caters to a wide audience, from mathematicians to compiler experts, frontend engineers to FPGA programmers. And for the purists out there, we also offer a version without ligatures for those who prefer utmost explicitness in their code.

Ligatures Explorer →

Berkeley Mono™ Ligatures Specimen

Customization and Font Compilers


Berkeley Mono™ Marketing - Font Configuration

All Berkeley Mono packages ship with several stylistic sets that allows for customization in applications that support OpenType® features (such as Adobe® products). However, most code editors and IDEs do not yet have the ability to select stylistic sets. To solve this problem, we provide ways to "bake" a font with specific customizations for a wide support across applications without having to worry about OpenType® features.

After placing an order, you'll be able to customize fonts to your liking by using our compilers. The standard font compiler included with every purchase allows for basic configuration of stylistic sets, font formats, and font family. Most people will not need anything else.

Berkeley Mono™ - Supertype™ Compiler
Feature Standard Supertype™
Select Font Format Yes Yes
Custom Font Family Yes Yes
Glyph Alternatives Partial All
Retina Weight Yes
Book Weight Yes
Glyph Spacing Yes
Custom widths Yes
Custom weights Yes
Custom slants Yes
Ligatures Subsetting Coming soon
Custom Font Name Yes
Custom Line Height Investigating
Variable Designspace Investigating
Arbitrary glyph swaps Coming soon
SemiOblique Slant Coming soon

New Supertype™ Compiler

Supertype™ Compiler Supertype™ compiler is an add-on module for complete customization of our fonts. With custom styles, you can create unique font families (using custom names) to use side-by-side depending on the use case. Custom tracking/spacing is useful for tailoring fonts for code or text use. Typically, tracking is larger for coding fonts vs. text. If Berkeley Mono is used for text settings, please try adjusting tracking to be a slightly tighter than the default. We are researching possibilities for line height adjustments and variable font metrics (custom design coordinates and maps). A new SemiOblique style is coming soon!

Berkeley Mono™ - Supertype™ Compiler Weights

Testimonials


Since I started using Berkeley Mono, the number of people asking “what font is that” has gone up dramatically. Just a gorgeous monospace typeface.
Andreas Kling Twitter Icon
Founder, Serenity OS.
Berkeley Mono is a seriously good typeface. It’s handled everything we’ve thrown it at (from UI components to branded conference booths), and it’s also the most fun we’ve had with a font. \m/
Dan Newman
Head of Design at Axiom.
Berkeley Mono is amazing! It is all over the Perplexity product and brand! Brings me so much joy to see it shine through at Perplexity.
Phi Hoang
Brand Experience at Perplexity AI.
Cartesia needed a typeface that could represent its team—something that could strike a balance between industrial research, fundamental engineering, and useful products. Berkeley Mono encapsulates these perfectly, making it a great fit for our needs.
Kabir Goel
Founding Engineer at Cartesia AI.

Purchase


Personal Use

Developer license is ideal for individuals or professionals who'd like to use our products for personal use. This includes e.g. installing fonts on your company devices. Commercial use is not covered.

License Company Size Link
Trial Trial Use Trial →
Developer Personal Use Purchase →

Commercial Use

Our commercial licenses are straightforward and lenient. Select an appropriate license based on the company size:

License Company Size Link
Indie Sole Proprietor Purchase →
Startup 2-7 Employees Purchase →
Medium 8-50 Employees Purchase →
Enterprise 50+ Employees Purchase →

Commercial licenses are not compatible with open-source apps. Commercial use restricted to UI elements only. If you're building an IDE, Terminal app, Text Editor, etc., we generally do not allow it, please contact us at [email protected] for your specific use case.

Additional Information



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