Although initially designed as a rational/geometric font, Triplex developed into one of Licko’s most intuitive typeface designs at the time of its release in 1989. Its roots, like many of Licko’s fonts during that period, can be traced back to her bitmap typeface designs which often functioned as the skeletons from which she developed her more expressive designs. Triplex’s origin can be found in the proportions of Lo-Res Twelve, a bitmap screen font, which morphed into Citizen, made of straight line segments, which then led to the design of Triplex.

Triplex was intended as a less rigid and friendlier substitute for Helvetica, and its first extensive use was in Emigre magazine #14, a special issue devoted to Swiss designers.

The name Triplex refers to the three versions that make up the entire family: Triplex, Triplex Serif and Triplex Italic. Each version of the typeface comes in light, bold and extra bold. The italic was designed and drawn by type designer and sign painter John Downer, and was designed to work with both the serif and sans serif versions.

The drawings, for what is now Triplex Italic, were done in Iowa City in 1985 by John Downer. The italic was originally conceived as a companion for another typeface being drawn at the same time called Arcatext, which (like Triplex) could be described as a “humanist sans serif” having simplified character shapes constructed mostly of geometric parts.

At one stage, a certain customer was interested in Arcatext but wanted a different italic drawn for it, so the plan for the italic took another direction and the idea for this one was dropped. Five years later, Emigre decided to commission the abandoned italic as a digital typeface in three weights as companions to the Triplex Sans and Serif families designed by Zuzana Licko in 1989.

The ascenders and descenders have been shortened to match those of Triplex and the new capitals embody more of the features that distinguish the lower case, but otherwise the digital version closely follows the original drawings.