New Additions: May 2024
31st May 2024
From the hundreds of fonts we add to the Identifont database every month we chose a selection of the most interesting recent additions, and interviewed the designers about their approach to each design:
James Griffin – Label (Souvenir Typefaces)
Label is the first typeface launching your new foundry, Souvenir Typefaces. What led you to decide to launch a foundry, and what made you choose a geometric sans serif as your first release?
That's a great question. After years primarily revising other people's retail offerings and bespoke work, I felt an urge to chart my own course. Like many, we tend to have a tonne of 'WIP' fonts and over time, Souvenir became the vehicle where I showcased my interests within typography. It was only when I started receiving requests to purchase my typefaces, when I genuinely thought I'd give it a shot.
Label, a geometric sans serif, perfectly embodies this interest. It's not a small undertaking, adding to the pile of fonts within this genre, but its ethos of stripping forms down to their essence, and prioritising function without sacrificing beauty, felt incredibly appealing. Additionally, I felt many contemporary geometric sans serifs missed the warmth and subtle quirkiness that could be so endearing. With Label, I wanted to revisit this rich history, infusing it with my own sensibilities to create something both timeless and distinctly modern.
Label has some similarities with Gill Sans. Was this or any other particular typeface an influence?
In all honesty, I hadn't looked too predominantly at any specific typefaces as references while designing Label. The process was quite organic, with the typeface evolving through many iterations and redrawn parts. That said, when considering this genre, I've always had a soft spot for Percy Smith's work.
Smith, though less known than contemporaries, was a master at imbuing geometric forms with humanistic qualities. While Label wasn't directly modeled on any of Smith's typefaces, his philosophy certainly resonates with my aims. I wanted to show that a geometric sans doesn't have to feel cold or mechanical. Like Smith, I believe you can respect the genre's modernist roots while introducing softer, more organic touches that reflect the human hand behind the design.
Label has some informal characteristics, such as the ‘U’-shaped ‘y’, and the open ‘4’. Why did you decide on these?
My approach with Label is somewhat unconventional. In type design, there's often a tendency to play it safe with the default character set, reserving more distinctive forms for stylistic alternates. The thinking goes, “If a shape is too unique, it might not suit every context, so let's make it optional”. But I tend to believe that if a character works – if it enhances the typeface's personality without compromising readability – then why relegate it to an alternate; as you mention, much like the 'U'-shaped 'y' and open '4'? These aren't arbitrary quirks; they're deliberate choices that differentiate Label from other typefaces that might be deemed similar at first glance.
Another key aspect is Label's proportions. Notably, the lowercase is narrower than most, especially in characters like ‘n’, ‘m’, and ‘r’. This wasn't a space-saving measure but an aesthetic choice. These compressed forms create a unique rhythm, lending a distinctly modern cadence whether set in large headlines or small text blocks. It's about finding that sweet spot where individuality enhances functionality, making Label stand out in both form and function.
Arne Freytag – Neo Grotesk (Fontador)
Neo Grotesk is a modern sans serif with circular counters. What led you to design it?
Yes, you might ask yourself: Why another Neue Grotesk? My aim in developing this typeface was to create a modern sans serif with the characteristic horizontal effect of Helvetica, but with other features. I wanted to incorporate a wide, round and open design language to create a contemporary aesthetic. This design not only makes the font functional, but also gives it a fresh, modern look.
The Neo Grotesk family includes Neo Grotesk Display, with character shapes that sort of look as if they’ve been blurred. Why did you decide to go a bit wild with a Display style?
A key aspect of my work was the planning of a dual display alternative. This was to serve as a strong contrast to the functional text font and stand out with its expressive appearance. As the font should also function variably, there are only limited possibilities. All points and anchors must have the same number and path direction in both fonts and it must also look clean and intentional in the intermediate transitions, which limits the design options somewhat and so I quickly came up with this blur effect. This effect makes it possible to create a unique character that clearly stands out from the standard variant without jeopardising the coherence of the font family. It also gives the font a completely new look that is somewhat futuristic – although the term futuristic is of course very subjective and open to interpretation.
Were you influenced by any other particular typefaces?
Yes, all Neue Grotesk fonts, especially Helvetica and Gotham and perhaps fonts with a blur effect such as FF Blur.
The most distinctive character in Neo Grotesk is the ‘K’, with a diagonal that meets the vertical at the baseline, a feature shared by only a handful of other typefaces: see Unusual features. What inspired this design?
… Wow, that's a great search function! It was probably the somewhat unique and simple nature of it that inspired me. Perhaps it's also a matter of taste, and if you find it too unusual in the text you can choose the normal ‘K’ or ‘k’ as an alternative letter. Both options are also available in the Display version.
You've also provided a variable font version. Does this include the Display styles?
Yes, the variable font incorporates the 12 weights for the Neo Grotesk version and the six for the Display version. and allows users to adjust the mix of weights and styles as they wish. This flexibility is intended to invite typographers and designers to experiment and offers a wide range of possible uses - whether as a pure text font or as a creative play object.
“Visions of a better life” was the leitmotif for this font development. In other words, not only a functional response to typographic requirements, but also an artistic vision that symbolises transformation and progress.
Paulo Goode – Stasis (Paulo Goode)
Where did the idea for Stasis originate?
I had the shape of the Ultra ‘S’ in my head for some time, so I decided to draw it in the Glyphs app and immediately liked its heavy footprint. I then set about complementing it by adding an ‘R’, a ‘T’, and so on. Before long I had drawn a full capital alphabet sticking to using simple geometric shapes. It had quickly evolved from being a font that had the smallest/narrowest counters, to one that was more open and balanced in weight, yet still complementing the heavy footprint of the ‘S’.
As I had worked thus far solely on screen, I decided to continue and just let each character flow naturally from whatever was in my head to form each glyph. It came together very quickly and I may well try this way of working again in the future. It was quite refreshing to avoid the sketching, scanning, and tracing phases and just create something new purely on screen.
It’s a sign of the originality of Stasis that I’m finding it hard to find a similar typeface to compare it with on Identifont; the closest is Metromedium #2. Were you inspired by any other typefaces?
That’s pretty impressive because geometric sans typefaces tend to be very similar and generic – thank you. I would say that its originality is down to the instinctive and carefree way I approached the drawing of this typeface.
There were two main typeface references to help improve Stasis – Futura and Verlag. After drawing my full alphabet and figures, I sat back and assessed the balance of glyphs and pinpointed any weaknesses. After studying the figures (I always seem to struggle with numbers!), I felt they could be improved and tweaked them to be more like Futura. Looking at Verlag helped me to try a different approach to the ‘M’, ‘N’, ‘A’, ‘V’, and ‘W’ glyphs that were overly heavy in the first draft.
Each Stasis font includes three other typefaces as OpenType stylistic sets: Stencil, with parallel cuts; Slice, with wedge-shaped cuts; and Notch, with notch-shaped cuts. Why did you decide to include these within the single typeface, rather than creating three variants?
I am not really a fan of scrolling through long font menus, and I appreciate how Adobe apps (in particular) have put more effort into giving easier access to stylistic sets in fonts on the fly. I felt it would be a cool option to create multiple typefaces within one versatile family. The ultimate aim would be to have a single font file to work with rather than 64 individual fonts to manage and navigate through – I managed to pull it off with the single variable font version, so I am very happy with that. It also makes the typeface of great value to those with limited budgets.
Malou Verlomme – Eckmania (Double Zero)
Eckmania is a revival of Eckmann, a Jugendstil typeface designed in 1900 as Eckmannschrift by Otto Eckmann. What attracted you to this project?
What attracted me first to Eckmannschrift is its unusual contrast. There are typefaces out there with all sorts of contrast axes: vertical, reverse, oblique, etc. But what struck me with Eckmannschrift is that the contrast angle actually varies from one letter to another. This would seem like a mistake to most, but surprisingly it works very well and brings a unique flavor to the text.
Many digital typefaces are based on Eckmannschrift, but almost all of them feel like pure digitizations, keeping all the original's quirks, irregularities, and historical clues. The only notable exception is James Edmonson's Eckmannpsych, which actually takes it one step further, creating something beautiful but very distant from the original source. To my mind, there was still a missing revival, faithful to the original yet redesigned and adapted to contemporary aesthetics and uses.
Were you able to work from historical materials, such as Otto Eckmann’s original drawings?
I worked mainly from Otto Eckmann’s initial drawings and printed type (reproductions in both cases). There are actually pretty significant differences between the two; one could say adaptations, arguably made by Rudhard/Klingspor's punch-cutter Louis Hoell (for a detailed account of this process, see “Louis Hoell and the Making of the Eckmannschrift” by Dan Reynolds, Poem Editions, 2020). As is often the case in type history when the designer is not the maker, there is an unsung hero to the story…
As a result, there are multiple historical sources to draw inspiration from. Some are high in contrast and very flourished, while others are more serious and feature a moderate contrast. Instead of focusing on a single source, Eckmania encapsulates a whole variety of tones and voices through its optical size axis.
You’ve made some subtle changes to Eckmann’s original, such as making the ‘C’, ‘I’ and ‘J’ shapes more conventional, and moving the gap in the ‘d’, ‘k, and ‘p’. Were these done for legibility?
I have never tried to make historically faithful revivals. I much prefer to draw inspiration and make something of my own. So yes, I did depart greatly from the source in many places, everywhere I felt it disrupted the text flow or felt too dated. I design fonts for contemporary graphic designers, not historians!
Eckmann was originally designed in one weight, corresponding approximately to Eckmania Bold, but you’ve extended the family to six weights from Thin to Black. Was it difficult to do this while keeping the spirit of the original?
Extending the weight range was fairly straightforward. I did really enjoy making the thin weights, as it became pretty low contrast in one of the masters. I felt this brought the design into new and exciting territory.
There’s a little more info here: About Eckmania, a small article I wrote on the process.