Based loosely on the structure of the circle and straight lines, it nonetheless applies a number of unusual design decisions, such as a delicately-low x-height (although larger in the bold weight), a tilted 'e' and irregularly-angled terminals, to add delicacy and an irregularity that suggests stylish calligraphy of which Koch was an expert.

Kabel shows influence from Expressionism as much as from Modernism, and may be considered as a monoline sans-serif companion of Koch's Koch-Antiqua, sharing many of its character shapes and proportions.

Koch marketed Kabel with a specimen showing the capitals supposedly derived from a construction grid of perfect rectangles and circles, but Walter Tracy and others have noted that this graphic does not really resemble the letters of the printed type, which were clearly drawn freely rather than by uncorrected geometry: "Koch probably drew [his] letters without constraint, and then 'rationalised' them afterwards…Koch was evidently not a man to be bound by arbitrary rules.

The name had techie cachet in its day (Piet Zwart's NKF kabel catalogue of 1927 is well-known) and is primarily metaphorical and allusive, a pun referring to both the monolinear construction of the face, and the role of type as a means of communication.

[2][1] (This offering of Futura-like alternates such as a single-storey ‘a’, which historian Paul Shaw has called a "Futura-ectomy", was common among other sans-serifs of the time, including Monotype's Gill Sans, Linotype's Metro and Erbar.

[1][7][8][9][10] This particularly occurred in the phototypesetting and digital type periods, taking advantage of the lack of international copyright protection for typefaces.

[1][12][13] Bhikkhu Pesala created the open-source revival Kabala, named after a Pāli word meaning 'a morsel of food' due to its intended use in Buddhist religious publications.

[14] This release is inspired by the ITC weight set and structure, but adds a number of features including italics, small caps and combined characters.