Abhaya Libre will be the unicode compliant, complete libre version of the most broadly utilised Sinhala typeface ‘FM Abhaya’ and includes Sinhala and Latin assistance. Developed in 1996, ‘FM Abhaya’ is an interpretation with the Sinhala letterpress typefaces from 1960s. The name ‘Abhaya’ is derived from the King Abhaya (474 BCE to 454 BCE) who reigned Sri Lanka from the ancient kingdom of Upatissa Nuwara.
‘Abhaya Libre’ was fully redrawn from scratch depending on FM Abhaya to comply with modern day usages in terms of internet, tab and smaller sized sizes for smartphones. Available in five weights, Abhaya Libre enables designers to create sophisticated typographic layouts by utilizing lighter weights for body text and heavier weights for headlines and subheadings. Each of these weights consists of 925 glyphs that enables clean and precise rendering for Sinhala, Pali and Sanskrit texts. Compact ‘Da’ forms can be enabled by utilizing stylistic sets. The Latin characters, that match the aesthetics of ‘Abhaya Libre Sinhala’, which was inspired by the style from the original Sinhala with an eminent contrast amongst distinctive strokes that go from thick to thin and was further modified to co-exist with the visual logics of Latin typefaces. The ductus references in line with the lines of a Didone typeface add a touch of Sinhala form to certain terminations. Big counters happen to be added as well as tiny ascenders and descenders for optimized screen viewing.
The project is led by Mooniak, a small variety foundry based in Colombo, Sri Lanka, in collaboration with Pushpananda Ekanayake. The Latin component is created by Sol Matas. Initial development and release was funded by Google Fonts in 2015. For more data and updates, or to report any bugs or recommendations, see github.com/mooniak/abhaya-libre-font
