Tia Viola is a geometric sans serif typeface, designed by Christine Andres, Mafalda Ribeiro, and Sofia Silva in 2024.
Tia Viola is a revival of Tia Lira (Bold), a typeface designed in 2004 by Portuguese sculptor and designer Manuel Pereira da Silva. With roots in geometric structure and typographic modernism, the original Tia Lira Bold stood out for its strong visual presence, reduced contrast, and low modulation — qualities the revival embraces and reinterprets.
The new version, Tia Viola, preserves this expressive weight but sharpens the overall system of proportions, seeking more refined visual balance. The design exaggerates horizontal terminals, evoking the flattened forms and constructed outlines found in early 20th-century modernist architecture and industrial design. Despite the reduction in contrast, Tia Viola maintains rhythm and tone across the typeface through precise spacing and careful curve modulation.
This revival emphasizes boldness, symmetry, and modularity, which are especially effective at large sizes. Tia Viola’s visual economy, paired with its monumental geometry, makes it particularly well-suited for headlines, posters, and branding systems where impact and clarity are essential.
By infusing a sculptural design heritage with contemporary typographic refinement, Tia Viola becomes a statement of geometric discipline — a typeface that’s both visually assertive and historically rooted.
See the full specimen booklet here:
