Christian Mengelt/Team’77
Christian Mengelt (*1938) is a type designer and typographer based in Blauen, Switzerland. He is a founding member of the former Team’77.
Initiated as Letterform Research & Design Team, Team’77 consisted of André Gürtler (1936–2021), Christian Mengelt (*1938) and Erich Gschwind (*1947). Conceiving typefaces such as Alpin Gothic (1974), Media (1976), Signa (1978) and Unica (1980), they collaborated with type foundries and other clients across Europe and the US.
Before forming the team, Christian Mengelt had designed Gerstner-Programm (1964–67) for Karl Gerstner. André Gürtler had worked with Adrian Frutiger in Paris from 1959 to 1965, before returning to Basel. For many years, Mengelt and Gürtler taught typography and type design at the legendary Basel school.
Mengelt continues to draw and pursue new type design projects. Through Linotype, he released Sinova (2010) and Mengelt Basel Antiqua (2014). In collaboration with Erich Gschwind, he re-issued Media77 (1977/2015) and Signa Set (1978/2025), two projects that had been conceived for the Swiss phototype pioneer Bobst, through the Lausanne-based Optimo foundry.
Since his digital reworking of Team’77’s Haas Unica, begun in 2010 and published in 2014 as LL Unica77, Christian Mengelt has been collaborating closely with Lineto on the creation of Cyrillic, Greek, and Monospaced counterparts of Unica77. He continued to consult on the development of Narrow and Condensed families, a project which had been abandoned by the Haas foundry in 1984 and which is scheduled for release in 2026.
LL Unica77
LL Unica77 Mono
LL Unica77 Condensed (scheduled for 2026)
LL Unica77 Narrow (scheduled for 2026)
Christian Mengelt/Team’77
Christian Mengelt (*1938) is a type designer and typographer based in Blauen, Switzerland. He is a founding member of the former Team’77.
Initiated as Letterform Research & Design Team, Team’77 consisted of André Gürtler (1936–2021), Christian Mengelt (*1938) and Erich Gschwind (*1947). Conceiving typefaces such as Alpin Gothic (1974), Media (1976), Signa (1978) and Unica (1980), they collaborated with type foundries and other clients across Europe and the US.
Before forming the team, Christian Mengelt had designed Gerstner-Programm (1964–67) for Karl Gerstner. André Gürtler had worked with Adrian Frutiger in Paris from 1959 to 1965, before returning to Basel. For many years, Mengelt and Gürtler taught typography and type design at the legendary Basel school.
Mengelt continues to draw and pursue new type design projects. Through Linotype, he released Sinova (2010) and Mengelt Basel Antiqua (2014). In collaboration with Erich Gschwind, he re-issued Media77 (1977/2015) and Signa Set (1978/2025), two projects that had been conceived for the Swiss phototype pioneer Bobst, through the Lausanne-based Optimo foundry.
Since his digital reworking of Team’77’s Haas Unica, begun in 2010 and published in 2014 as LL Unica77, Christian Mengelt has been collaborating closely with Lineto on the creation of Cyrillic, Greek, and Monospaced counterparts of Unica77. He continued to consult on the development of Narrow and Condensed families, a project which had been abandoned by the Haas foundry in 1984 and which is scheduled for release in 2026.
LL Unica77
LL Unica77 Mono
LL Unica77 Condensed (scheduled for 2026)
LL Unica77 Narrow (scheduled for 2026)