Avoin Sans is an open source font project. The typeface is a humanistic neo-grotesque, with rigorous geometry and generous round shapes. For a long time now this project has been dormant, but now it's time to get going again.
The starting point for Avoin, was a font licensing problem in the City of Helsinki, which made it unfeasible to consistently use the font chosen for their visual identity (in the '90s). As the city was in the middle of renewing both internal and external communications the font was intended to serve as an bridge between a new marketing concept and the old communications materials that had not been refreshed for decades. Between 2014 and 2017 the City of Helsinki used a version of this font, called Helsinki Avoin Sans. Later the City of Helsinki licensed a similar font and discontinued the open source project.