STORY

Inspired by Vietnamese cultural symbolism, Viaoda Antiqua is a mix of both the old and the new, appearing with traditional elegance and modern professionalism at the same time. Viaoda Antiqua is designed to match media publications regarding tradition while also serve as titles and subtitles. The typeface is to be further developed in the future, with hopes to attain greater values for Vietnamese typeface.

Viaoda Antiqua full version includes:

• More than 830 Glyphs
  
• Supporting all Latin and Cyrillic languages
  
• Bonus uppercase Greek
  
• 17 automatic ligatures
  
• Support and optimization for Vietnamese
  
• Standard Set and Style Set 01 for English
  
• Decimal Digits & Old Style Figures
  
• Optimize punctuations, marks between uppercase & lowercase
  
• 8 Styles (Axes: Weight & Italic)
  
• More ...
  

The trial version of Mini (about 700 Glyphs and 1 style: Regular) is expected to be uploaded in early 2020 under the name "Viaoda Libre". You can download and use it for free.

CONCEPT

“Ao dai” is one of the few Vietnamese words that appear in English-language dictionaries. Ao dai is also one of the inspirations that led me to embark on designing Viaoda Libre.

The word «Viaoda» stands for «Vietnam Ao dai». The thin, soft lines of the ao dai are depicted in each letter of the font. I tried to sketch the shape of every uppercase letter and stylize all the serifs so that the letters look as rhythmic and smooth as possible. Additionally, I created a unique look for the letter «H» by adding two dancing hands, which was inspired by the hands of Buddha.

Viaoda is a combination of the thin lines of ao dai and the shape of the temple roof. It has a sharp contrast between the lines, creating a sleek and classic feel.

Glyphs & Opentype Features

Typeface specimen