ligaturebased

Ligaturebased is a term used in typography and font design to describe systems and styles that foreground ligatures—the combined glyphs that represent two or more characters—as primary units in type. In a ligaturebased approach, ligatures are not merely decorative; they influence the design of individual glyphs, spacing, and the overall word shape.

Ligatures have a long history in print, from early calligraphy to roman type and blackletter, serving sometimes for ligature fidelity and sometimes as a visual flourish. In modern digital typography, ligatures can be empowered or limited by font technology and shaping engines. The rise of digital typesetting has made ligature management a configurable feature in many workflows.

Technically, ligature behavior is implemented with font features such as the OpenType liga table, contextual substitutions, and layout engines. A ligaturebased font may include a wide range of discretionary ligatures beyond the common ff, fi, and fl, enabling a distinctive typographic texture. Designers may also employ contextual alternates or stylistic sets to vary ligature usage across languages or media.

Applications include branding, display typography, and editorial design, where ligatures contribute to coherence, rhythm, or a unique voice. Some projects embrace ligaturebased design to create sculptural wordforms, while others constrain ligatures to preserve readability or to align with a brand's visual language.

Related concepts include ligature theory, OpenType features, and typographic aesthetics.