Frustro is a typeface based on the Penrose triangle, an Escher-esqe "impossible object" that can't be fabricated by any earthly means.

Frustro was created by Martzi Hegedűs while studying at the Hungarian University of Fine Arts in Budapest after he became inspired by the optical illusion.

“At first I had no intention to make it as a font, but it became quite popular over the internet, so I decided to take up the challenge,” says Hegedűs.

"There were only a few characters I had troubles with, especially the ones with diagonal lines, like the inequality signs and the square root symbol," says Hegedűs.

Type foundry Gestalten reached out and offered to distribute the font, transforming it from gimmicky side project to true display typeface.

Gestalten suggested Hegedűs craft some ornaments—the Penrose triangle was a given, which he followed with a stupefying infinity loop and a perplexing set of stars and hearts.

Drawing individual letterforms was easy enough, but creating a system that could be used in a professional context was more difficult.

Hegedűs decided to design the font using a reverse italic, which gave words set in the font an element of dynamism without interfering with any character's personality.

Presented in the traditional Roman format, the font lost a lot of its kinetic appeal, and an italic slant created confusion with the angled elements of letterforms like "N."

"I haven't had an opportunity to use Frustro as a font yet," he says. "To be honest I'd rather see what others can do with it."

Each font stands alone or can be used as an ingredient—by layering the fonts designers can create interesting color combinations and 3-D effects.