Contrafonts is the type practice of Joaquín Contreras Soto — a Chilean designer working from a small village in Germany, where he makes typefaces and musical instruments.
His work has two flavours. One is precise: legibility, modular grids, the tradition of European type design. The other is earthier: political posters, calligraphic manuscripts, the hand-painted lettering of Latin American streets. Deeply rooted in the counterculture of Santiago de Chile, his approach to design is practical, critical and always grounded in research.
Trained at the Plantin Institute of Typography in Antwerp. Selected three times at Tipos Latinos — Romances in 2008, CF Santiago in 2018, and CF Cumbia in the 10th Biennial 2026. Jury representative for Chile at the 7th Tipos Latinos Biennial, 2016. His work is documented in Historia del Diseño Gráfico en Chile (Ediciones Fulgor, 2026). He has given lectures and workshops on type design in Chile, Bolivia, Mexico, Slovakia and Portugal.
Some typefaces are available through Fontfabric and W Type Foundry. The rest live here.
Contact: joaquin@contrafonts.cl
2026 © Joaquín Contreras • Based in Baden-Württemberg, Germany.
Webdesign and code by http://www.apunte.studio