Panóptico de Actualidad Gráfica y Visual
“My graduation typeface Shequalin was designed around the urge to create a visual voice for sophisticated, humorous literature. Be it satirical or Dadaistic poetry, escapist or fictive novels, Shequalin seamlessly suits works by masters of the comical word. To maintain the reader’s alertness, it rhythmically drops in oddities without distracting from the reading flow. Roman and Italic are designed to...
“My typeface designs are more about what visually pleases me than important aspects of type design such as readability, precision and consistency. They’re about graphic rhythm, flow and balance and act more like design pieces than actual typography. I’m typically inspired by the juxtaposition between different aspects such as thick and thin, organic and machined, static and moving, classic and...
“I can’t recall how the name came to be, but I’m sure it also sprung to life on its own. The word ‘font’ had to be included at all costs, and ‘fabric’ carries a message of production, craftsmanship, and handcrafted details. When the two came together, I felt inspired and confident that this was the right brand to build.” —...
“Stravinsky was a fun story. Originally the typeface was part of a visual identity for an electronic music composer called Stravinsky Disaster — an experimental project fusing classical music with modern electronic beats. The idea of the typeface reinforces this idea by fusing the 18th-century Didot vertical contrast and its squarish counters with the contemporary sans-serif Grotesk form.”...
“A ‘good’ typeface is one that is equipped to operate within the context for which it is required, on the basis of Herbert A. Simon’s proposition that ‘Everyone who designs devises courses of action aimed at changing existing situations into preferred ones’. It is often argued that the most excellent or ‘classic’ typefaces are those that are capable of performing...
“The original idea behind Vestebro was an impactful typeface for headlines, enabling tight leading and narrow letter-spacing. We wanted something with serifs to break away from the all sans-serif trend of our times. The challenge was to be modern with a slight hint of quaint. We looked for inspiration to the Scotch Serif blended with Garalde, and made the design...
“My latest typeface, Macklin, started as a piece of research into the work of early 19th-century type founder Vincent Figgins. His type specimen, which can be found in the St. Bride’s Library in London, is a thing of beauty — not only for the ground-breaking typefaces that it contains, but also for the layout, the paper, and even the copy....
“I made Frontage and Frontage Condensed during my years in Paris. The city is still full of old storefronts with beautiful signs and vintage typography. Some are really ornate and over the top, others are more subdued. But they are old too and are crafted by hand, with little imperfections that lend them their charm. That’s what drew me in....
“Dunkel Sans is a buzzing heavyweight display font, perfect for leaving a fierce impression on posters and signage applications. Dunkel is the German word for dark and as the name implies, it is designed to be super-black. When I visit Korea, I walk through the streets and visit bookstores to observe the trends. It seems there are not many diverse...
What constitutes a good typeface design? “The balance between blacks and whites — because the whites in-between have the same importance as the blacks; rhythm — because if the design does not have good rhythm it is like mixing two tunes with different beats (painful); proper technical execution — because if it is not well crafted it will fail to...
“In designing Sole Sans, we took our inspiration from the San Serif lettering of English 18th-century neo-classical architects such as George Dance. The Caslon Foundry (1816), Thorowgood (1832) and Figgins (1833) were also influences. All these faces show uppercase only, rather crude and heavy, with ungainly curves that seem to be produced by a blunt tool. The strokes have a...
“One of my favourite typefaces so far is Kiperman, designed in partnership with Ana Laydner. This typeface is a tribute to the late Henrique Leão Kiperman, founder of the publishing house Artmed, now an imprint of Grupo A. The inspiration for it came from the personality of the honoree. Mr. Kiperman didn’t like to be under the spotlight, so we...
