OCR_X Type Specimen

Designed by Eurostandard and Maximage, OCR-X is both a homage to and an extension of the infamous OCR-A typeface from 1966.

OCR stands for “optical character recognition,” a technology that converts printed information into workable electronic data by scanning and identifying individual numbers and letters. The original font, produced by American Type Founders, was designed to be perfectly readable by computers—each character shaped to reflect the precise format set by the United States Bureau of Standards. OCR-A was initially used mostly by banks, credit card companies, and other businesses that process large amounts of printed data by machine.

Taking its predecessor’s skeleton as a starting point, OCR-X reinterprets it and expands it in six weights. The Regular is a revival of the original cut of OCR-A offering lifted details and variations. For instance, aligned punctuation and alternative glyphs are available as stylistic sets. The Thin cut underlines the hexagonal and geometric construction of the OCR-A system, while the Bold and Black morph into a new, blocky variation.