It’s either/or, this month, on MyFonts’ list of popular new fonts. The crop of successful new typefaces is neatly divided into playful, informal script faces, and cool, clean sans-serifs; not much else in between. Apparently, those are the quintessential typographic tools in this day and age, and who are we to complain? Our foundries offer a wealth of possibilities in both genres, and there is a lot of quality out there. In the elevated realm of typographically sophisticated text faces, there is more nuance, as our selection below shows. Happy browsing to all, and for those professionals who come to TypeCon later this month: we are looking forward to meeting you at our booth!
Unlike most of our interviewees, Crystal Kluge never dreamt of working OpenType magic or getting the most out of FontLab software. Pens, pencils and brushes are her tools of choice. She’d already found her own enchanting style of lettering and illustration when she was approached by Font Diner’s Stuart Sandler, who had spotted her work when shopping for wedding invitations in Minneapolis’ Uptown area. In 2006 the twosome started the Tart Workshop. It’s a dream team: Kluge draws cheerful, sassy letterforms and pictograms, Sandler makes them into smart and usable fonts with a catchy swing. And the beat, as they say, goes on.
Our July interviewee is the co-founder of Alias, a London design studio that made a name for itself producing cutting-edge designs for magazine publishers, music labels, fashion designers and more. To lend their designs an unmistakable personal touch, they make individualist fonts that MyFonts offers under two labels: Alias Collection and Alias. Most of the Alias typefaces were designed by the man whose offbeat headline font for the London 2012 Olympics will be on a billion TV screens as of this week. Meet Gareth Hague, not your average type designer.
The range of his work is stunning: from the corporate-yet-friendly logo for London’s Oyster card to exuberant script lettering and powerful handwriting fonts. His best sellers are versatile sans-serifs such as Houschka and Chevin, the latter of which is ubiquitous in the UK as Royal Mail’s corporate typeface. A recent series of sweeping updates has catapulted several of his fonts back onto our Hot New Fonts list. He has a soft spot for the letter ‘g’ — hence the name of his foundry, G-Type. From book covers dripping in blood to the most realistic script face on the market — here is the Nick Cooke story, told in his own words.
Type design is a craft that requires training and practice. Some newcomers choose to grow up in public, sharing their half-baked first attempts with the entire internet. Others do it differently: they develop their skills away from the public forums, then impress with a series of mature, quality fonts — which in the long run may be more rewarding. Our interviewee this month has followed such a path. His first typeface, released in 2008, was accomplished and singular — Ninfa made clear that, although still in his mid-twenties, Eduilson Wessler Coan knew what he wanted. Four years on, Coan’s dooType foundry has grown into a remarkable little collection of diverse typefaces with strong personalities. Meet our man in Curitiba, Brazil.
Type design is a craft that requires training and practice. Some newcomers choose to grow up in public, sharing their half-baked first attempts with the entire internet. Others do it differently: they develop their skills away from the public forums, then impress with a series of mature, quality fonts — which in the long run may be more rewarding. Our interviewee this month has followed such a path. His first typeface, released in 2008, was accomplished and singular — Ninfa made clear that, although still in his mid-twenties, Eduilson Wessler Coan knew what he wanted. Four years on, Coan’s dooType foundry has grown into a remarkable little collection of diverse typefaces with strong personalities. Meet our man in Curitiba, Brazil.
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