TL;DR
Rizo is Fontfabric’s new reverse-contrast display sans, developed by Type Director Vika Usmanova and Type Designer Ivelina Martinova. It channels the trend of manually-compressed lettering (where compression flips stroke contrast, making horizontals heavier than verticals) into a controlled, functional system with big ink traps, a double-storey a, narrow proportions, and closed apertures for crisp display impact. The family runs 11 styles plus a variable font, from compressed to regular widths and thin to black weights, with Extended Latin/Cyrillic support (including Bulgarian) and OpenType features like stylistic alternates and ligatures.
Have you been paying attention?
You’ve probably noticed a growing design trend of manually compressing type for stronger visual impact, often resulting in reverse contrast.
According to physics, energy can’t be created, only transferred. Apply enough pressure to a letterform, and that transfer becomes visible, the contrast flips. Someone had to turn that force into a system. And this is exactly what Vika Usmanova, our Type Director, set out to do: “I wanted to take this expressive aesthetic and turn it into a refined, intentional typeface.”, she says.
And thus, Rizo was born.
“The typeface combines the visual tension of manually compressed typography with a controlled approach to reverse contrast. It retains the clarity and neutrality of a neo-grotesque sans serif while introducing a more experimental character through its unusual stroke distribution. The goal was to create a typeface that feels bold and expressive while remaining typographically balanced and functional.” – Vika Usmanova, Type Director.
Together with Ivelina Martinova, our Type Designer, they created a typeface that may be compressed, may be regular, but one thing’s for sure – it’s never boring.
The Mechanics Behind Rizo
Rizo’s ID card says it’s a reverse-contrast sans-serif typeface. It has 11 font styles, a variable font, Extended Latin and Cyrillic support, and a set of OpenType features. However, none of these is enough to capture its vibrant nature and daring personality. It’s the dual nature of the typeface that commands attention – bold display qualities and precise work under the hood. But how did it come to life?
“Vika’s idea was to explore the expressive potential of reverse contrast and extremely compressed letterforms, transforming this visual approach into a complete typeface family.” Iva says.
In theory, it sounds easy. But in reality, our designers faced a few challenges. “Finding the right balance between the reverse contrast concept and overall visual stability turned out to be a dare. Most letters follow the logic of traditional reverse-contrast designs, but diagonal forms required a different approach.”, Vika says. Developing the right proportions also became a game of dare. “I wanted the Regular and Bold weights to remain relatively close in width, borrowing some ideas from uniwidth typefaces. This helps preserve line length when changing weights and makes the typeface more practical in real design workflows.”, she ads.
For Iva it was all about refining the extremely compressed styles and making sure they worked seamlessly together with the regular widths in the variable font. And while it did take many hours and refinement, the result is, in Iva’s words, “ a contemporary display typeface that combines strong visual impact with a refined and functional design system.”
The Details do the Talking
When you first stumble upon Rizo, you might be captivated by the way it seems to fit any environment – we all know someone whose charm commands the room and Rizo is that friend. But the more you look at it, the more details start to stand out.
Notice how the big ink traps swim between its heavy horizontals. A double-storey a that keeps things grounded. Narrow proportions and straight terminals that give Rizo a squeezed, high-impact stance. And closed apertures keep every letter crisp, even at a shout.
When we set eyes on the impressive glyph case, there’s a lot to choose from for a favorite character. “I especially enjoy the uppercase letters where the reverse contrast becomes more visible, such as A, B, R and S. They reveal the unique construction of the typeface and highlight its expressive nature.”, Iva says. And for Vika, it’s the comma. (“Which took several iterations before finding the right solution, thanks to Iva.”, she adds.) We love a good team effort.
And what’s your favorite character?
Weights, Styles, and Variable Flexibility
Rizo is built to withstand any pressure. With font weights ranging from thin to black and styles going all the way from compressed to regular, it has the capacity to do all kinds of design work and even steal the spotlight. What can we say, this typeface just likes to show off.
Rizo supports Extended Latin and Cyrillic, including Bulgarian localization. The family includes a set of OpenType features such as stylistic alternates, localized forms, default and discretionally ligatures, case-sensitive forms, and additional typographic refinements that enhance both functionality and creative expression.
A Charismatic Presence: an Interview with the Designers
We sat with the designers to learn more about the process of creating a new typeface.
Vika is a type designer and type director at Fontfabric. Her work combines a passion for experimental letterforms with systematic thinking, and she’s always searching for peculiar details while ensuring that fonts remain functional as a system.
Iva is a type designer at Fontfabric. She loves creating typefaces and exploring how small design decisions influence the way we read and experience text. She’s fascinated by the balance between function and expression, and she enjoys refining the details that give every typeface its own personality.
What inspired you to create Rizo? Tell us more about the concept behind it?
Vika: Rizo was inspired by a trend of manually compressing typefaces in posters, branding, and packaging. This often creates an accidental reverse contrast, where horizontal strokes become heavier than vertical ones.
Iva: Rizo was born from a concept developed by our Type Director, Vika. She wanted to explore a trend that has become increasingly popular in Western European design, especially in branding, packaging, restaurant identities, and poster design. It creates a bold and distinctive voice while maintaining a strong connection to contemporary graphic culture.
I joined the process during the development of the compressed styles, working on refining the extreme widths, expanding the family, and developing the distinctive details that define Rizo, such as its custom ligatures and expressive letterforms.
What were some of the biggest challenges you faced during the font creation process?
V: In manually squeezed typefaces, diagonal strokes often become disproportionately thin and visually weak. To address this, I added more mass around apexes and key junctions to maintain consistency across the character set. Another important element was the use of ink traps, which improve legibility in extremely narrow styles and help maintain smooth interpolation throughout the variable font.
I: Because Rizo is built around reverse contrast, many traditional typographic principles had to be reconsidered. The challenge was to maintain the expressive character of the concept while creating a balanced and functional typeface that designers can use confidently.
How do you envision Rizo being used by designers in the creative industry? What would be the best implication for Rizo in terms of usability?
V: Rizo was designed primarily as a display typeface. I imagine it being used in posters, packaging, branding, editorial headlines, visual identities, and other applications where typography plays a central visual role.
The compressed styles are particularly useful when designers need maximum impact in limited space, while the wider styles offer more flexibility for branding and editorial work. Although the normal width can work in short texts and digital environments, the typeface is at its strongest when used at larger sizes where its distinctive reverse-contrast character can be fully appreciated.
I: Rizo has a wide range of possibilities thanks to its variety of widths and its ability to adapt to different spaces and layouts.
I see it as a strong choice for branding, packaging, café and restaurant identities, as well as posters and visual communication projects where a bold and memorable typographic presence is needed.
Did other fonts inspire you in the design process of Rizo?
V: The project was influenced more by contemporary graphic design than by a specific typeface. It started from observing how designers manually compress sans-serifs and exploring how that visual effect could become a complete typeface.
I: The creation of Rizo was less about following specific references and more about exploring and developing a unique typographic system around an unusual idea.
Reverse contrast requires a different approach to balancing letterforms, because traditional rules of weight distribution do not always apply in the same way. This made the process both challenging and exciting — every character had to be carefully reconsidered to achieve the right balance between expression and functionality.
If Rizo were a person, what qualities would they possess?
V: Rizo would be confident, expressive, and unconventional, but also precise and well-structured. It likes to stand out while remaining reliable.
I: Rizo would be modern, adaptable, and distinctive. It would have a strong personality and a clear point of view — someone who naturally stands out but can still adapt to different environments.
Do you have any set of characters that you favor most?
V: I especially like how the lowercase alphabet works together as a system. I’m also very happy with the Bulgarian Cyrillic.
I: Besides the ones I mentioned earlier, I also really like some of the Bulgarian Cyrillic forms, such as в, г, д and з, which have a strong personality and contribute to the distinctive identity of Rizo.
Rizo in Use – a Style for any Occasion
Rizo is like that cool older sibling who knows when to put on formal clothing and rise to the occasion, but after hours it’s all about having fun.
The variety of styles allows you to experiment – go compressed and extra condensed for punchy headlines that grab attention in tight spaces, or stretch into the regular and narrow widths when your layout needs room to breathe. Need inspiration? We got you covered.
Born out of the exploration of a trend, Rizo is now available everywhere and ready to help you spread your message and set a tendency of your own.
