Digital Font, Faune

Faune is a digital sans-serif typeface family created by type designer Alice Savoie and commissioned by the Centre National des Arts Plastiques (CNAP) in partnership with Imprimerie Nationale. Savoie took inspiration from animal engravings in two historical texts from Imprimerie Nationale’s collection—Leclerc and de Buffon’s Histoire Naturelle (1749–1804) and Description de l’Égypt (1809). She was drawn to the diversity and richness of shapes among the animals, which would influence Faune’s variants. The ram’s broad body and slim legs informed Faune Black, which evokes nineteenth-century grotesques in its contrasted letterforms. The viper’s lithe, almost weightless form inspired Faune Thin, which became the typeface family’s skeleton. The most distinct and striking style is the Bold Italic, inspired by the ibis’s undulating neck and heavy body carried on skinny legs. Starting from these three Display variants, Savoie developed them to interpolate and come together as a family.


CNAP commissioned the typeface to highlight the creative act involved in typeface design, underscoring that fonts aren’t merely software available on a computer but an area of flourishing creative practice. Faune was launched with a dedicated microsite and made available under the Creative Commons license CC BY-ND 4.0 for free download and use in personal or commercial projects.

Digital Font, Faune; With contribution from Roxane Gataud ((French, b. 1991)); Design Team Member: Alice Savoie ((French, b. 1984)); Made for Centre National des Arts Plastiques; digital font; Collected from the public domain by Cooper Hewitt in collaboration with the designer; 2024-21-1-1/6