Playwrite is a typeface engine that allows the creation of primary school cursive fonts.
The écriture cursive, or traditional vertical cursive, is the most used approach to handwriting teaching in schools in France. Its forms are inspired by the Lettre Ronde, originally written with a broad nib pen and ink. Students learn écriture cursive by writing letters over Séyès lines, which are introduced during grande section. Created in 1892, Séyès lines are a system of horizontal and vertical guidelines that govern the proportions of letters, and their ascending and descending strokes.
In an attempt to reform and modernise handwriting teaching in schools, the Ministère released two digital typeface families in 2013 — Écriture A by Laurence Bedoin-Collard and Heloísa Tissot, and Écriture B, by Marion Andrews. Both fonts are available for free on the Ministère’s website, along with information for teachers about the shapes and proportions of letters, and how to connect them to form words in the most logical way possible.
