I released Synthemesc on January 15, 2008. The name comes from A Clockwork Orange, where “synthemesc” refers to synthetic mescaline. The design was based on the lettering in the Korova Milk Bar scene of the film. The originals looked rough, as if cut quickly with a jigsaw. I believed that effect wasn’t deliberate, so I redrew the forms by hand and smoothed them out for greater usability while keeping the eccentric shapes intact.

Synthemesc was a single-style release and was always commercial. It later gained wider visibility after being included in the Adobe Creative Cloud Fonts library. I haven’t tracked specific high-profile uses, though I did notice it incorporated into colorful artwork in a pedestrian underpass in Singapore.

On November 22, 2024, version 1.003 expanded the character set with the addition of single left and right guillemots (‹ ›), a dagger (†), and a section (§) symbol. This was the only update since the original release.