We are getting serious – with fun fonts!

Say goodbye to dull and dry typefaces, and hello to Joe Stitzlein’s Hamster™ – a font unlike any other. It’s a two-tone Variable Color Font, bursting with fun!

60 Styles
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I’m done with men. I have a hamster. — Janet Evanovich

Story

Joe Stitzlein’s Hamster is a colorful playground for designers. Inspired by the pets of his childhood friends, the construction of the letterforms follows the tubular ‘habitrails’ in which the cute namesakes live.

It was not only the transparent, partly colored plastic tubes and terrariums that made an impression on the designer, but also the animals. Their two-tone fur inspired Joe to design his typeface as a Color Font. The rounded ends and bold font weights are reminiscent of the rodents’ distinctive chubby cheeks. The characteristics cuddly and chubby therefore apply equally to both animal and font. The lighter weights appear less playful and would make for a perfect logotype for young fashion brands, for example.

Capital Construction Kit

Hamster is a capital display typeface, if you select the lowercase letters they invert the colors for additional variation. The six fonts from Thin to ExtraBlack each contain five hamster characters drawn by illustrator Laurie Schmitt, as well as 19 decorative ornaments.

The designer gives this tip: “The dingbats that lock together to form patterns are elegant and fun, I could see these used as wallpapers or in architecture.”

See the magic of the dingbats in action, with some specially made wallpapers that are available to download with the trial fonts. This is one of 13 wallpapers included for free when you Try the font.

See the magic of the dingbats in action, with some specially made wallpapers that are available to download. This is one of 13 wallpapers included for free.

Users can determine the coloring of the fonts individually, for example to reflect the special colors of a brand, an event or a TV series. “We wanted Hamster to be a celebration of joy and delight,” explains Joe Stitzlein.

“We wanted Hamster to be a celebration of joy and delight.”

Joe Stitzlein

Therefore, he had color expert Leslie Stitzlein define an additional eight fixed combinations, some colorful and playful, some subtle and elegant. A non-color font and thus traditionally usable variant rounds off the palette. In total, ten variable fonts and 60 static fonts are available, as a complete package for the price of three individual styles – so even the purchase is fun!

Technical Details

The fonts are based on COLR-V0 technology. In contrast to the newer V1 specification, it works perfectly in all relevant browsers at the time of its release. On our specially created microsite and with the help of the free trial fonts, you can see and have a play for yourself.

As is not unusual for a technology that is still in its infancy, implementation on the program side is proceeding at different speeds. While it has long been supported by applications such as Microsoft Word, the variable desktop font does not yet work as desired in Adobe’s Creative Suite. As a workaround, we equipped the static fonts with an additional SVG table. While we await full support of color fonts across all applications, everything still works in a familiar way.

From sketching to the final Variable Color Font: Hamster in progress

How to design a Variable Color Font: 1) draw some sketches 2) make the rest of the damn font.

Hamster is a refreshingly playful, fun font full of typographic possibilities. It’s the perfect addition to all designers’ type palettes, who like this namesake, are keen on collecting, fonts rather than nuts, of course ;) But unlike the cuddly role model, this hamster doesn’t even need to be fed … except with happy ideas.

A
#65

Glyphs

Uppercase

A
B
C
D
E
F
G
H
I
J
K
L
M
N
O
P
Q
R
S
T
U
V
W
X
Y
Z

Lowercase

a
b
c
d
e
f
g
h
i
j
k
l
m
n
o
p
q
r
s
t
u
v
w
x
y
z

Latin Accents

Á
Ă
Â
Ä
À
Ā
Ą
Å
Ã
Æ
Ć
Č
Ç
Ĉ
Ċ
Ð
Ď
Đ
É
Ĕ
Ě
Ê
Ë
Ė
È
Ē
Ę
Ğ
Ĝ
Ģ
Ġ
Ħ
Ĥ
Í
Ĭ
Î
Ï
İ
Ì
Ī
Į
Ĩ
Ĵ
Ķ
Ĺ
Ľ
Ļ
Ŀ
Ł
Ń
Ň
Ņ
Ŋ
Ñ
Ó
Ŏ
Ô
Ö
Ò
Ő
Ō
Ø
Õ
Œ
Þ
Ŕ
Ř
Ŗ
Ś
Š
Ş
Ŝ
Ș
Ə
Ŧ
Ť
Ţ
Ț
Ú
Ŭ
Û
Ü
Ù
Ű
Ū
Ų
Ů
Ũ
Ŵ
Ý
Ŷ
Ÿ
Ź
Ž
Ż
á
ă
â
ä
à
ā
ą
å
ã
æ
ć
č
ç
ĉ
ċ
ð
ď
đ
é
ĕ
ě
ê
ë
ė
è
ē
ę
ğ
ĝ
ģ
ġ
ħ
ĥ
í
ĭ
î
ï
̇
ì
ī
į
ĩ
ĵ
ķ
ĺ
ľ
ļ
ŀ
ł
ń
ň
ņ
ŋ
ñ
ó
ŏ
ô
ö
ò
ő
ō
ø
õ
œ
þ
ŕ
ř
ŗ
ś
š
ş
ș
ß
ə
ŧ
ť
ţ
ț
ú
ŭ
û
ü
ù
ű
ū
ų
ů
ũ
ŵ
ý
ŷ
ÿ
ź
ž
ż

Numerals & Currency Symbols

0
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
¤
$
¢
£
¥
ƒ
0
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9

Punctuation

.
,
:
;
!
¡
?
¿
&
@
·
*
#
|
\
(
)
{
}
[
]
-
­
_
«
»
"
'

Mathematical Signs & Symbols

+
×
÷
=
>
<
±
~
¬
^
µ
%

Arrows & Shapes

Ligatures

fi
fl

Greek

π
ω

Languages

Acheron
Achinese
Acholi
Achuar-Shiwiar
Afar
Afrikaans
Aguaruna
Albanian (Arbëreshë)
Albanian (Arvanitika)
Albanian (Gheg)
Albanian (Tosk)
Alekano
Aleut
Amahuaca
Amarakaeri
Amis
Anaang
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Anuta
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Bemba (Zambia)
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Cashinahua
Catalan
Cebuano
Central Aymara
Central Kurdish Chachi Chamorro
Chavacano
Chiga
Chiltepec
Chinantec
Chokwe
Chuukese
Cimbrian
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Congo Swahili
Cook Islands Māori
Cornish
Corsican
Creek
Crimean Tatar
Croatian
Czech
Danish
Dehu
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Embu
English
Ese Ejja
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Faroese
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French
Friulian
Gagauz
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Garifuna
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German
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Gusii
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Japanese
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Latin
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Ligurian
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Makhuwa
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Makonde
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Malagasy
Malay (Standard)
Malaysian
Maltese
Mandinka
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Manx
Maore Comorian
Maori
Mapudungun
Marshallese
Matsés
Mauritian Creole
Meriam Mir
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Minangkabau
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Naga Pidgin
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Niuean
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Nyanja
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Papiamento
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Polish
Portuguese
Potawatomi
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Quechua
Romanian
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Saramaccan Sardinian
Scottish Gaelic
Sena Seri
Seselwa Creole French
Shambala Shawnee
Shipibo-Conibo
Shona
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Sicilian
Silesian
Slovak
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Soga
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South Ndebele
Southern Aymara
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Spanish
Sranan Tongo
Sundanese
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Tagalog
Tahitian
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Tiv
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Tok Pisin
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Tonga (Zambia)
Tsonga
Tswana
Tumbuka
Turkish
Turkmen
Tzeltal
Tzotzil
Uab Meto
Umbundu
Ume Sami
Upper Guinea Crioulo
Upper Sorbian
Venetian
Veps
Võro
Walloon
Walser
Wangaaybuwan-Ngiyambaa
Waorani
Waray (Philippines)
Warlpiri
Wayuu
Welsh
West Central Oromo
Western Abnaki
Western Frisian
Wik-Mungkan
Wiradjuri
Wolof
Xavánte
Xhosa
Yanesha’
Yao
Yapese
Yindjibarndi
Yucateco
Zapotec
Zulu
Záparo
Credits & Details
Design Contributions
  • Laurie Schmitt (Illustrations)
  • Leslie Stitzlein
  • Olli Meier
Mastering, Production

Olli Meier

Marketing

Joe Stitzlein (Naming, Copywriting)
Snask (Artwork, Campaign)
Darwood (Sound Design)
Golden Retriever (Photography)
Olli Meier (Microsite, Artwork)
Ivo Gabrowitsch (Copywriting, Specimen)
Lucy Beckley (English Translation)

Design Period
2019–2022
Release Date
February 21, 2023
Awards

2024 TDC Awards Certificate of Typographic Excellence

Recommended Use

Advertising & Packaging
Editorial & Publishing
Festive Occasions
Film & TV
Logo, Branding & CI
Fashion
Music & Nightlife
Poster & Billboards
Software & Gaming