Created for The Young Jerks in 2021 and revised in 2026, YJ Dual is a rounded sans serif typeface that reimagines IBM’s Dual Gothic, originally designed for the Selectric Typewriter. Handling proportion and spacing in a unique way known as duplexing, YJ Dual has a sturdy, mechanical texture despite not being truly monospaced. View and test below ↓
Dual Gothic displayed in a 1986 GP Technologies Typing Element Handbook.
Working with The Young Jerks, we set out to draw an in-house typeface that would be used for various packaging design projects, where small blocks of legible text that don’t sacrifice personality were needed. After seaching through a handful of typewriter catalogues, Dual Gothic spoke to us. We admired its straightforward capitals, its round, geometric lowercase with its perfectly symmetrical t, and r that appears to be a chopped off n. These details, plus the serif-less i, j, and l make Dual Gothic feel open and breathable, contrary to how most monospaced typefaces are meant to feel very structured and dense.
From Wikipedia: The IBM Selectric (a portmanteau of “selective” and “electric”) was a highly successful line of electric typewriters introduced by IBM on 31 July 1961.
Instead of the “basket” of individual typebars that swung up to strike the ribbon and page in a typical typewriter of the period, the Selectric had a chrome-plated plastic “element” (frequently called a “typeball,” or less formally, a “golf ball”) that rotated and tilted to the correct position before striking the paper. The element could be easily interchanged to use different fonts within the same document typed on the same typewriter, resurrecting a capability which had been pioneered by typewriters such as the Hammond and Blickensderfer in the late 19th century.
Dual Gothic
Just like IBM’s, YJ’s Dual is characterized by a wide, clear lowercase, and a narrow-ish uppercase. Dual Gothic is a monospaced, single weight font, while YJ Dual carries a range of weights and is proportionately spaced, yet duplexed in weight.
In a monospaced typeface (Courier New,) all glyph widths are identical, and remain fixed as weight changes. In a proportional typeface (Helvetica,) all glyph widths are individual, and change as weight changes. In a duplexed typeface (YJ Dual), all glyph widths are individual, but remain fixed as weight changes.
Above: Courier New, Middle: Helvetica, Below: YJ Dual
Duplexing was first invented for newspaper typefaces, where some element of proporion was allowed, but typesetters had to move fast, and needed a way to increase weight without having to change the shape of a block of text. Duplexing was necessary for this typeface, given that the Jerks’ signature typographic style often relies on container shapes filled with tight, intricate lockups, where a change in type weight shouldn’t change the spacing of any elements.
YJ Dual Thin, Light, Regular, Medium, Bold
YJ Dual has a range of 5 weights: Thin, Light, Regular, Medium, and Bold. Its lighter weights are peppered by exaggerated dots found above i and j, and in accent marks and punctuation. This peppering relaxes itself for a more even texture in heavier weights, where even color necessary. A series of stylistic alternates are available, each having their own effect on the typeface’s texture. There’s alternate glyphs for I, a, and g, case-sensitive punctuation, and even a few easter eggs like a smiley face that we found in a typewriter font catalog, and the Young Jerks’ peace-hand. In 2026, we decided to make italics before releasing YJ Dual. Just like the upright, YJ Dual’s italics are duplexed, and their wordshapes remain fixed as weight changes. The round shapes of YJ Dual’s italics are more rotated than they are skewed, providing a slight mechanical overbite.
YJ Dual Thin with Regular
While distinct and recognizable in large settings, YJ Dual’s even proportions, large x-height, and generous spacing provide comfort to the eye and make setting long-form text easy. This duality combined with the myriad of specific features outlined above makes YJ Dual fun to use and fun to read.
This typeface was designed for the exclusive, in-house use of the Young Jerks from 2019–2021, and revised in 2026. To date, YJ Dual has been used in a number of in-house YJ merch projects, and in brand systems for Sunday Beer and Verve Coffee, among others.
1: IBM Selectric Catalog Pages, Dual Gothic Sample
From selectric.org
2: 12 point Dual Gothic “Golfball”
Gifted from Dan Cassaro
3: Photo of the IBM Selectric I
From Steve Lodefink
4: Dual Gothic, YJ Dual Light scaled to match x-height
Dual Gothic sample from typeballs.com
5: Verve Coffee Packaging, 2022
From the Young Jerks and Verve Coffee
6 & 7: Sunday Beer Packaging, 2021
From the Young Jerks and Sunday Beer
8: Verve Japan Roppongi Mug, 2020
From the Young Jerks and Verve Coffee Japan
Change weight and keep copyfit when duplexing:
Change personality with stylistic alternates:
This typeface is in development and will be licensable in 2026. Back to top ↑