Kafa



Kafa has bold letterforms and stout strokes that imply a powerful design with an inescapable visual presence. Originally designed as a form of protest against politics of hate and xenophobia, this typeface by Nadine Chahine continues to convey its activist voice in political messages, posters, and banners in uprisings throughout the Middle East....

Apr 2020

Eckmannpsych & Cheee

James Edmonson’s Eckmannpsych and Cheee may look different, but they share a similar spirit. Eckmannpsych is a revival of Otto Eckmann’s eponymous Eckmann-Schrift, originally released in 1900 at Rudhard’sche Gießerei in Offenbach. Eckmann’s training as a fine artist is evident in this typeface, which is expressive rather than utilitarian. Eckmann-Schrift...

Jan 2020

Découpe

I have to admit, I have a huge soft spot for typefaces that have paper cut-out vibes and Découpe is no exception. With its straights and selective curves, it curiously reminds me of Preissig Antikva, which is lovely in all its eccentricities but remains quite hard to use. Découpe, on the other hand, was designed for modern times. Its quirks are noticeable,...

Jan 2020

Our Favorite Typefaces of 2018

If there’s any thread that binds this edition of our annual, it is diversity. I mean this in terms of style and purpose, of course (as is true every year), but a wide range of voices and ideas also made itself especially evident in 2018. New Voices Our selection this year was more limited than usual in terms of quantity, yet the expansion and diversification...

Dec 2019

CoFo Chimera

Professional experience helps us to be more efficient in our workflow and to take fewer risks when launching a product. We take a path we know is the safest strategy for business, even if it’s not the most interesting option for a creative mind. By contrast, students tend to be free of bias and eager to experiment. Original ideas come from unexpected...

Dec 2019

Faune

Just when you think you’ve seen it all, a typeface comes along that turns your expectations upside down. With Faune, commissioned by the Centre National des Art Plastiques, Alice Savoie integrates unlikely visual cues into a type design. Savoie took engraved depictions of animals from two late eighteenth-century and early nineteenth-century scientific...

Dec 2019

Karelia

Ink traps saw a resurgence in 2018, often as a subtle way for art institutions to say, “We’re creative!” To safely differentiate themselves: “We’re not your tech start-up friendly-round-sans, but we’d very much like your tech start-up friendly-round-sans patronage.” As a fan of error, serendipity, and misuse, I’ve always enjoyed the winks of oversized...

Dec 2019

Ohno Blazeface

I picture five-year-old James Edmondson, sitting on the floor of his dad’s graphic design studio back in the early 1990s, poring over vintage Letraset catalogs and copies of U&lc from the 1970s, absorbing it all like a sponge. I have no idea if anything like this ever happened. But it seems possible when I look at Ohno Blazeface and Blazeface...

Dec 2019

Hesse Antiqua

Hesse Antiqua is a titling face that, like a particularly fine wine, is best reserved for special occasions. These are letters that can lend a sense of dignity and permanence to titles and inscriptions. Created by Gudrun Zapf von Hesse in 1947, these confident caps were designed specifically for stamping, often with gold leaf, into the sumptuous leather...

Dec 2019

Reforma

Reforma is one of those typographic projects that does not go unnoticed. Well, truth be told, none of Alejandro Lo Celso’s projects go unnoticed, at least not by me. Like other serial1 or “multiform” type families, Reforma explores versatility by way of a common skeleton wearing different outfits. In this case, though, Lo Celso also wanted to convey...

Dec 2019