The Algerian designer Taouffik Semmad created the fonts in 1997. Taouffik Semmad grew up speaking Algerian-Arabic dialect and French, studied Russian, and is now living in Montreal. This could perhaps explain his current passion, to “find a universal writing”, which he admits is a Utopian idea. Created with brush and Chinese ink, the characters of ITC Atmosphere came from Semmad’s hand but only after they were fully formed in his mind’s eye.