The Mimesis typeface by Laucke Siebein is available in Regular, Italic, and Bold styles. Its design is idiosyncratic, defies indifference, and demands skillful typographic application. In smaller sizes, Mimesis offers impressive readability. When used generously, it unfolds its qualities as a display typeface, pushing typographic possibilities to surprising limits through varying letter spacing and line heights. The typeface’s potential is further expanded through OpenType features such as Stylistic Sets, which offer straight alternates or blunt terminals, among other options.
The most obvious reference is Mercedes-Antiqua1 by Heinrich Wieynck, which served as an inspiration for the design. Mimesis adopts its characteristic Art Nouveau forms but refines them with a more disciplined approach, deliberately handling the original’s ornamentation in a rational manner. Additionally, it subtly emulates the upright stance of Phalanx2, the stubbornness of Albertus3, the lightness of Elizabeth4, and the distinctive ductus of Gill Sans5. Mimesis eclectically combines these influences and formal contradictions, propelling them into the 21st century.
1 — Mercedes-Antiqua, Heinrich Wieynck, Schriftgießerei Wilhelm Woellmer, Berlin (Mercedes-Antiqua 1904, kursiv 1905, halbfett 1906) 2 — Phalanx, Hans Karl Gustav Möhring, (1930) 3 — Albertus, Berthold Wolpe, (1932–1940) 4 — Elizabeth, Elisabeth Friedländer, (1933/34) 5 — Gill Sans, Eric Gill, (1928–30)
