Playwrite FR Moderne

The ‘écriture cursive’, or traditional vertical cursive, is the most used approach to handwriting teaching in schools in France. Its forms are inspired by the ‘Lettre Ronde’, originally written with a broad nib pen and ink. Students learn ‘écriture cursive‘ by writing letters over Séyès lines, which are introduced during kindergarten (age ~5). Created in 1892, Séyès lines are a system of horizontal and vertical guidelines that govern the proportions of letters, and their ascending and descending strokes.

In an attempt to reform and modernize handwriting teaching in schools, the Ministère released two digital typeface families in 2013 — Écriture A by Laurence Bedoin-Collard and Heloísa Tissot, and Écriture B, by Marion Andrews. Both fonts follow a modern cursive style and are available for free on the Ministère’s website, along with information for teachers about the shapes and proportions of letters, and how to connect them to form words in the most logical way possible.

Playwrite France Moderne is a variable font with a weight range from Thin (100) to Regular (400), and supports over 150 Latin-based languages. It has a single-weight sibling with Guides, Playwrite FR Moderne Guides, designed to harmonize seamlessly with this main font while providing a visual aid for primary school children.

To contribute, see github.com/TypeTogether/Playwrite.

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Playwrite France Moderne characteristics

This modern, upright cursive features no loops, medium to long ascenders and descenders, and a relatively fast construction. The capital letters are simplified and print-like, with the only distinctive feature being the raised apex in 'M'. Lowercase letters with descenders, such as 'g' and 'y', do not connect to the following letter, and 'm' and 'n' start without a curved entry stroke. Despite its italic structure, 'b' and 'p' include connecting strokes. The letter 'f' is notable for its descender with a curved stroke.

Family name in font menus

Playwrite France Moderne appears in font menus with a two-letter country code ‘FR’ and a the word ‘Moderne’, Playwrite FR Moderne. It features four styles: Thin, ExtraLight, Light, and Regular.
The download .zip file includes the variable font and standard static ttf fonts for each style.

Playwrite fonts for schools

The Playwrite school fonts are based on the findings of Primarium, a groundbreaking educational effort that documents the history and current practice of handwriting models taught to primary school students worldwide. This typographic engine serves teachers, educators, and parents by generating localized libre fonts. These Playwrite fonts are complemented by Playpen Sans, an informal and fun typeface designed for annotations, instructions, and student notes – that also includes emojis.

For more information about the Primarium project, visit primarium.info and to learn more about handwriting education in France, see primarium.info/countries/france.

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How to install the fonts?

Windows: Download the font file to your computer. Navigate to where you saved the font file and double-click it to open. Click the "Install" button at the top of the font preview window. The font is now installed and ready to be used across your apps.

macOS: After downloading the font file to your Mac, right-click it in Finder and select "Open With" > "Font Book". Then, click "Install Font" in the font preview window that pops up. The font is now installed and ready to be used across your apps.

How to use the fonts in apps?

The Playwrite font family uses complex OpenType features to generate connected writing. Some common applications require these features to be manually activated.

Note: This font family doesn't include Bold or Italic styles, so please avoid applying them in text editors. If you use the common 'B' and 'I' buttons, you will automatically generate low-quality styles.

Google Docs and Slides: From the font selector drop-down, go to "More Fonts" and search for the desired font name, in this case, "Playwrite FR Moderne", and click OK. If some text is already selected, the font choice will apply.

Microsoft Word: Go to Format in the Menu bar, select Font, and then the Advanced tab. Activate "Contextual Alternates" and "Kerning for fonts below" to apply these settings to all text sizes.

LibreOffice: In macOS, to select the different styles, go to Format in the Menu bar, select Character, and use the Typeface menu.

Adobe InDesign: Open the Paragraph Panel and select Adobe "World-Ready Paragraph Composer" from the contextual menu.

Adobe Illustrator: Navigate to Preferences > Type, check the "Show Indic Options" box, and close preferences. Then open the Paragraph Panel and select "Middle Eastern Composer" from the contextual menu.

Adobe Photoshop: Access the Paragraph Panel, then choose "World-Ready Layout" from the contextual menu.

The above instructions are also available in PDF format here.