Azabache ("jet" in Spanish) is a kind of dark mineral that's frequently used to craft art objects. As a word, "azabache" is also used to refer to black things, like black hair, for instance.

The Azabache typeface is the result of a research project conducted by Ariel Martín Pérez to look for alternative ways of designing digital letters that wouldn't involve drawing the shapes by tracing complex vector paths. Instead, it was first sketched by hand with a trackpad on Processing to lay out the shapes of the whole alphabet. Then, the letter shapes were selected and reproduced using oval modules on Glyphs. This method felt more iterative than conventional type design on the computer, more intuitive too. The result is heavily textured, has traces of the handwritten form but also looks digital and streamlined. Besides, its contrast direction counters the one generally used in traditional Western calligraphy. It's a kind of a cyborg typeface.