Castorgate: The Ugly-Hot Punk of the Typocene
By Michiel Terpelle
Castorgate is my favorite font that has been produced during the Typocene. It is a font made by Australian type designer Graham Meade, known to be associated with font foundries GemFonts and Typotheticals. Not much is known about this enigmatic font maker. Since entering the field in 1998, Meade has been a dedicated and prolific creator, with a portfolio boasting over 300 downloadable fonts. His work spans both freeware and commercial typefaces, demonstrating his versatility and commitment to font design.
One of the most quintessential Graham fonts—perhaps even quintessentially Typocene—is Castorgate. It feels like a font that cuts corners, both literally and figuratively. Its curves don’t attach smoothly (just look at the capital S and U), and there’s no attempt at optical sizing (see the lowercase m or the number 3). The tilde? Like Baby Got Back—it's just so round, it's like out there. The entire font looks as if it’s been outlined and expanded straight into a vector file. Not rushed, but designed with time efficiency in mind. Not out of ignorance, but out of a full embrace of technology that automates processes.
(Figure 1.) Castorgate Regular, Distort and Messed.
(Figure 1.) Castorgate Regular, Distort and Messed.
(Figure 1.) Castorgate Regular, Distort and Messed.
It recalls Donald Knuth’s Metafont, particularly its Distort and Messed weights—pure embodiments of parameters rendered into form. Castorgate is almost geometric, almost constructivist, with subtle rounded edges. It carries an amateurish quality, as if its shapes are imitating what a font should look like rather than what it naturally is. The tools used in its creation take precedence over the final design.
This font is thematically experimental, unapologetically digital, generative, and audacious in its choices—or its refusal to make them. It’s decorative, yes, but also deeply punk. The typography equivalent of amateur porn next to a Playboy shoot. Ugly-hot, like the Hot Rodent Boyfriends of the internet. Castorgate has BDE for sure.
What I love most about Castorgate is that it was born from someone’s passionate desire to create, even without the traditional qualifications—much like Madonna’s famous quote: “I’m not a great singer, but I have something to say.” This font exists because its creator felt the need for it. Perhaps it also emerged at a time when it could easily be shared on platforms eager to embrace it. Despite its humble origins, Castorgate’s unique quirks predate similar typefaces like MTDBT2F4D by Dexter Sinister (2013), Marq by Karl Nawrot (2007), and Bill by Carvalho Bernau (2013), which are likely built on the same principles. Castorgate has resonated deeply with the font community, with over half a million downloads across platforms, cementing its place as a freebie that’s both accessible and admired.