Jiří Rathouský (1924–2003) was a notable Czech graphic designer and typographer. He participated in designing the Czechoslovak expositions at the EXPO 67 in Montreal and at the EXPO 70 in Osaka, and designed the information design for the New Scene of the National Theatre in Prague. Rathouský is well-known for his typeface Metron, designed for the Prague underground transport system. He was also involved in other areas of graphic design, designing film posters and several book editions; Rathouský is also the author of the logo of the Prague football club Sparta. Rathouský's legacy will be represented at Briefcase by the Alphapipe font, created by Radek Sidun on the basis of one of Rathouský's drawings.

1/Alphapipe is more than just another fashionable alphabet, which have sprung up following the success of the Avant Garde by Herb Lubalin and Tom Carnas. It is one of the first complex systems, based on a number of ligatures and alternative characters, used similarly to current stylistic sets. Thanks to this novel variability, Rathouský was able to choose arbitrary character combinations, so as to achieve the best possible kerning and maximum graphic impact at the same time.
2/The font comes with plenty of various alternatives. Full glyph set contains 840 glyphs.
3/Radek’s corrections of Alphapipe Thin.
The basis of the font is simple geometric construction, derived from the shape of a circle. Majestic uppercase letters feature accentuated width dynamics, as such referring to old inscriptional majuscules; lowercase letters have increased x-height.
4/Jiří Rathouský’s archive in his home hides many sketches. While Jiří Rathouský made do with one typeface, his digitised legacy goes further, offering five weights with Italics, thus further expanding the application options.

1/Anton Steiner († 17. June 1920) was a Sudeten German, buried in a cemetery near Karlovy Vary. The lettering from his gravestone served as the basis of a majestic display type Steiner, where static and dynamic principles are in symbiotic opposition.
2/ “E” letter from Dres alphabeth: The Dres family enlivens the sweaty aesthetics of sportswear and will find fans among those who like a large TV screen, potato chips, and can’t seem to be drawn away from live feeds of collective sports.
3/Pramen sketches: The primary impulse for making the Pramen font family was the Barell, a typeface created by Jiří Rathouský in the 1970s for the Karlovy Vary Thermal hotel orientation system.
4/ Kakao sketches: Kakao is a font family of stylistically similar fonts, loosely based on calligraphy and handwriting. Its creation was inspired not only by handwritten typefaces of the sixties, but also by the diversity of street typography – shop windows, sign plates, adolescent tags, graffiti and even love messages written on walls.
5/ Motel Sans – detail: Night life typography and typography of streets, bars and motorway stops can be an infinite source of inspiration. This is true without exception for the North Moravian town of Havířov, which contains a plethora of true gems.

Alphapipe is a constructed typeface originally designed in 80’s by Jiří Rathouský. The new version has been redesigned from scratch.