Decutto is a neo-grotesque typeface that packs the Marionette formula and some blackletter ideas into a low-contrast sans serif design. Its name plays on the phrases “off cut” and “cut to” which express the key feature – the contemporary legible letter shape is decorated with cut carved edges and counters, giving the typeface crisp and simplistic look, like that of an old minted coin.
The letter shape has pronounces features of the William Dwiggins’ M-formula that makes the overall texture sharper and creates some visual contrast between the rounded outer shape and the squared inner counter shape. This simplification makes the text clear and sharp at a small body size and somewhat mannered at a heading size. The typeface also received some features of blackletter, such as diagonal calligraphic strokes in uppercases, a modest triangular serif in the upper left corner of lowercases, and thickening at the end of the ascenders and descenders.
