205 Corp.
24, rue Commandant-Faurax
69006 Lyon
France
T. 33 (0)4 37 47 85 69
M. contact@205.tf
Newsletter
205 Corp.
24, rue Commandant-Faurax
69006 Lyon
France
T. 33 (0)4 37 47 85 69
M. contact@205.tf
Newsletter
Anacharsis is a modernist geometrical lineal, that follows in the footsteps of the Futura, Simplex or Semplicità typefaces. Its design and proportions are based on the gothic Rotunda letters, round, soft and meridional, like those used in the 14th and 15th centuries in southern Europe.
A solid, black character, it possesses two series of alternative signs: certain capital letters that recapture traces of the “turned” letters (E F H I J M N P S T V W Y) of medieval copyists; for the lowercase letters, archaic forms may be called upon (a d h l s v w y). These variants, accessible through OpenType functions, are deactivated in the default settings. Anacharsis can in this way be used as a classic and elegant lineal.
Anacharsis is available in regular, bold and black versions with their corresponding italics.
Augure, designed by Simon Renaud, is based on an a priori paradoxical principal: how to move beyond traditional letterforms without undermining legibility? To this end, this typeface questions the canons inherited from Roman capitals and Carolingian minuscules.
Augure freely reflects a range of diverse influences: somewhere between historical forms of the Latin alphabet (including Uncials), forms taken from cryptography, and forms inspired by digital technology and its rationality. The combinations of elementary forms are reminiscent of early twentieth-century experiments with geometric sans serifs. The juxtaposition of these many borrowed elements provides the typeface with a formal singularity, generating captivating typographic compositions.
Though Augure is also available in a variable font format (weight and slant), the typeface has seven different weights by default (from Thin to Black). The user can thus activate one of the three stylistic sets (classic, eclectic, cryptic) or separately select one of the numerous alternate glyphs contained in the typeface’s extended palette.
Battling is a geometrical lineal, inspired by the “Universals” that were distributed by the Dutreix foundry in Limoges in the 1930s, and that were probably intended to compete with the Europe (the French name given to Paul Renner's Futura) in the field of the “modernist” sans serifs. Battling is a robust typeface that conserves the awkwardness of its original model. It possesses a sort of “adolescent vigour”, frustrated and rowdy.
Matthieu Cortat has produced Battling in four weights (light, regular, medium, bold) with their corresponding italics. In medium and bold, it avails of a series of uppercase titling characters, decorated with a thin thread of light. It also possesses a series of roman numerals in small capitals.
Designed by Roman Seban, the modular typeface Bertin is inspired by the work of the famous French cartographer Jacques Bertin and Dutch graphic designer Jurriaan Schrofer.
In 1967, Jacques Bertin (1918–2010) published Semiology of Graphics: Diagrams, Networks, Maps, a fundamental treatise in contemporary cartographic thinking. In this book, he established a series of parameters for representing information, defining six visual variables which he used to construct his graphical system.
In 1973, Jurriaan Schrofer (1926–1990) designed the cover of a reprint of Semiology of Graphics. He proposed a typographic application of Bertin’s graphical system. His typeface, constructed on a grid with a highly rigorous approach, typographically illustrates the six visual variables defined by the cartographer.
With Bertin, Roman Seban presents a synthetic and revitalized interpretation of both the cartographer’s and the graphic designer’s work. Thanks to variable font technology, the different styles of the typeface combine multiple axes of visual variables.
The Bertin typeface can be divided into two families—Bertin Dot and Bertin Square—built with an identical frame, but based on two different modules. Bertin Dot uses the circle whereas Bertin Square employs the square.
Bertin Dot and Square are respectively deployed in 6 styles, based on 6 transformations.
• Size: reduction or enlargement of the modules
• Shape: a horizontal or vertical compression of the modules
• Value: like a gradient, a gradual variation in the size of the modules, from bottom to top or from top to bottom.
• Multi: a combination of the Shape and Value styles
• Rotation: rotation of the modules from 0 to 180°
• Orientation: rotation of the modules towards a common vanishing point
The axes of variable fonts enable a gradual transformation of the modules, allowing users to adjust the desired effect according to their preferences.
The originality of Bertin allows it to be adapted to different use contexts. It is clearly a display typeface: the boldest choices allow for the composition of spectacular titles, whereas more restrained settings ensure legible running text, even in smaller sizes.
Regardless of the variable setting applied, each glyph shares the same metrics. This lets the user overlay the same text composed in different styles and infinitely multiply the formal possibilities.
This stencil type typeface stands out for its geometrical structure and its elementary forms. However, a number of details seem to show what Damien Gautier was by characters of body type to determine his choices. Rare indeed are characters of this type that possess oldstyle numbers and ligatures that are usually reserved for historical characters!
With the efficient and precious help of Roxane Gataud.
The CX80 typeface is a “machine”* as rudimentary as it is atypical. Four kinds of serifs are combined in the same font: sans serifs, triangular serifs, sharp rectangular serifs, and smooth rectangular serifs. Each letter can exhaust all possible combinations: up to 256 variations for any one sign!
The user is free to play with the possibilities provided by the typeface. Either they choose to be an iconoclast by associating different serifs (simply using their keyboard), or they may prefer one of the four basic styles that correspond to each of the serifs.
Behind this intentionally economic design, CX80 reveals a unique potential; particularly as weight can be adjusted at will using variable font technology.
CX80 reveals its formal and conceptual sources of inspiration through its modular and composite appearance. The name openly refers to the Codex 80 type classification imagined by Jean Alessandrini** in 1980. Seeking an alternative to traditional classifications, he proposed a new taxonomy adapted to the typographic renewal of the time.
A second influence is the modding of scooters. During the 1980s (when Damien Gautier was old enough to buy his first Piaggio Ciao), teenagers were in the habit of customizing their mopeds by adding functional and decorative elements. This culture of outrageous tinkering and modding also runs through the typeface.
With CX80, Damien Gautier continues his exploration of vernacular typographical forms produced by amateurs and industrial designers. Forms that he loves for their freshness and ingenuity, that here once again show their surprising potential.
* CX80 echoes other typefaces by Damien Gautier: LeChaufferie, Robin, and Heliuum.
** Jean Alessandrini (1942), French typographer, illustrator, and writer.
Garaje takes its inspiration both from the alphabets of the Bauhaus school and the vernacular inscriptions of Spanish garage owners: two worlds that share a desire to reduce typographic forms to simple geometric elements. At the Bauhaus this geometrization is ideological: it represents a rejection of tradition and the affirmation of an objective and rational vocabulary. With garage owners it is a simple matter of logic, certainly due to an ignorance of tradition. It is somewhat naïve to wish to reduce the shapes of the alphabet to elementary forms. Perfect geometrical forms seem less than perfect to our eyes: Type Design abounds with optical corrections that compensate for our perception of forms.
Garaje plays specifically with this paradox: its construction is rigorously geometrical, anchored to a scalable modular grid, with no optical correction. A perfectly objective system, but a typographical aberration, simultaneously right and wrong.
“For the last 20 years, I have extended this family in every direction, to the point of absurdity: extremely narrow or outlandishly large forms, all built from the same modules. Today it is a complete system, available in 44 widths, 5 weights, 445 fonts, hundreds of thousands of glyphs, and no contrast. Resulting in a typeface which is at the same time brutal and playful, rational and naïve.” Thomas Huot-Marchand
Garaje takes its inspiration both from the alphabets of the Bauhaus school and the vernacular inscriptions of Spanish garage owners: two worlds that share a desire to reduce typographic forms to simple geometric elements. At the Bauhaus this geometrization is ideological: it represents a rejection of tradition and the affirmation of an objective and rational vocabulary. With garage owners it is a simple matter of logic, certainly due to an ignorance of tradition. It is somewhat naïve to wish to reduce the shapes of the alphabet to elementary forms. Perfect geometrical forms seem less than perfect to our eyes: Type Design abounds with optical corrections that compensate for our perception of forms.
Garaje plays specifically with this paradox: its construction is rigorously geometrical, anchored to a scalable modular grid, with no optical correction. A perfectly objective system, but a typographical aberration, simultaneously right and wrong.
“For the last 20 years, I have extended this family in every direction, to the point of absurdity: extremely narrow or outlandishly large forms, all built from the same modules. Today it is a complete system, available in 44 widths, 5 weights, 445 fonts, hundreds of thousands of glyphs, and no contrast. Resulting in a typeface which is at the same time brutal and playful, rational and naïve.” Thomas Huot-Marchand
Garaje takes its inspiration both from the alphabets of the Bauhaus school and the vernacular inscriptions of Spanish garage owners: two worlds that share a desire to reduce typographic forms to simple geometric elements. At the Bauhaus this geometrization is ideological: it represents a rejection of tradition and the affirmation of an objective and rational vocabulary. With garage owners it is a simple matter of logic, certainly due to an ignorance of tradition. It is somewhat naïve to wish to reduce the shapes of the alphabet to elementary forms. Perfect geometrical forms seem less than perfect to our eyes: Type Design abounds with optical corrections that compensate for our perception of forms.
Garaje plays specifically with this paradox: its construction is rigorously geometrical, anchored to a scalable modular grid, with no optical correction. A perfectly objective system, but a typographical aberration, simultaneously right and wrong.
“For the last 20 years, I have extended this family in every direction, to the point of absurdity: extremely narrow or outlandishly large forms, all built from the same modules. Today it is a complete system, available in 44 widths, 5 weights, 445 fonts, hundreds of thousands of glyphs, and no contrast. Resulting in a typeface which is at the same time brutal and playful, rational and naïve.” Thomas Huot-Marchand
Garaje takes its inspiration both from the alphabets of the Bauhaus school and the vernacular inscriptions of Spanish garage owners: two worlds that share a desire to reduce typographic forms to simple geometric elements. At the Bauhaus this geometrization is ideological: it represents a rejection of tradition and the affirmation of an objective and rational vocabulary. With garage owners it is a simple matter of logic, certainly due to an ignorance of tradition. It is somewhat naïve to wish to reduce the shapes of the alphabet to elementary forms. Perfect geometrical forms seem less than perfect to our eyes: Type Design abounds with optical corrections that compensate for our perception of forms.
Garaje plays specifically with this paradox: its construction is rigorously geometrical, anchored to a scalable modular grid, with no optical correction. A perfectly objective system, but a typographical aberration, simultaneously right and wrong.
“For the last 20 years, I have extended this family in every direction, to the point of absurdity: extremely narrow or outlandishly large forms, all built from the same modules. Today it is a complete system, available in 44 widths, 5 weights, 445 fonts, hundreds of thousands of glyphs, and no contrast. Resulting in a typeface which is at the same time brutal and playful, rational and naïve.” Thomas Huot-Marchand
Garaje takes its inspiration both from the alphabets of the Bauhaus school and the vernacular inscriptions of Spanish garage owners: two worlds that share a desire to reduce typographic forms to simple geometric elements. At the Bauhaus this geometrization is ideological: it represents a rejection of tradition and the affirmation of an objective and rational vocabulary. With garage owners it is a simple matter of logic, certainly due to an ignorance of tradition. It is somewhat naïve to wish to reduce the shapes of the alphabet to elementary forms. Perfect geometrical forms seem less than perfect to our eyes: Type Design abounds with optical corrections that compensate for our perception of forms.
Garaje plays specifically with this paradox: its construction is rigorously geometrical, anchored to a scalable modular grid, with no optical correction. A perfectly objective system, but a typographical aberration, simultaneously right and wrong.
“For the last 20 years, I have extended this family in every direction, to the point of absurdity: extremely narrow or outlandishly large forms, all built from the same modules. Today it is a complete system, available in 44 widths, 5 weights, 445 fonts, hundreds of thousands of glyphs, and no contrast. Resulting in a typeface which is at the same time brutal and playful, rational and naïve.” Thomas Huot-Marchand
Garaje takes its inspiration both from the alphabets of the Bauhaus school and the vernacular inscriptions of Spanish garage owners: two worlds that share a desire to reduce typographic forms to simple geometric elements. At the Bauhaus this geometrization is ideological: it represents a rejection of tradition and the affirmation of an objective and rational vocabulary. With garage owners it is a simple matter of logic, certainly due to an ignorance of tradition. It is somewhat naïve to wish to reduce the shapes of the alphabet to elementary forms. Perfect geometrical forms seem less than perfect to our eyes: Type Design abounds with optical corrections that compensate for our perception of forms.
Garaje plays specifically with this paradox: its construction is rigorously geometrical, anchored to a scalable modular grid, with no optical correction. A perfectly objective system, but a typographical aberration, simultaneously right and wrong.
“For the last 20 years, I have extended this family in every direction, to the point of absurdity: extremely narrow or outlandishly large forms, all built from the same modules. Today it is a complete system, available in 44 widths, 5 weights, 445 fonts, hundreds of thousands of glyphs, and no contrast. Resulting in a typeface which is at the same time brutal and playful, rational and naïve.” Thomas Huot-Marchand
Garaje takes its inspiration both from the alphabets of the Bauhaus school and the vernacular inscriptions of Spanish garage owners: two worlds that share a desire to reduce typographic forms to simple geometric elements. At the Bauhaus this geometrization is ideological: it represents a rejection of tradition and the affirmation of an objective and rational vocabulary. With garage owners it is a simple matter of logic, certainly due to an ignorance of tradition. It is somewhat naïve to wish to reduce the shapes of the alphabet to elementary forms. Perfect geometrical forms seem less than perfect to our eyes: Type Design abounds with optical corrections that compensate for our perception of forms.
Garaje plays specifically with this paradox: its construction is rigorously geometrical, anchored to a scalable modular grid, with no optical correction. A perfectly objective system, but a typographical aberration, simultaneously right and wrong.
“For the last 20 years, I have extended this family in every direction, to the point of absurdity: extremely narrow or outlandishly large forms, all built from the same modules. Today it is a complete system, available in 44 widths, 5 weights, 445 fonts, hundreds of thousands of glyphs, and no contrast. Resulting in a typeface which is at the same time brutal and playful, rational and naïve.” Thomas Huot-Marchand
Garaje takes its inspiration both from the alphabets of the Bauhaus school and the vernacular inscriptions of Spanish garage owners: two worlds that share a desire to reduce typographic forms to simple geometric elements. At the Bauhaus this geometrization is ideological: it represents a rejection of tradition and the affirmation of an objective and rational vocabulary. With garage owners it is a simple matter of logic, certainly due to an ignorance of tradition. It is somewhat naïve to wish to reduce the shapes of the alphabet to elementary forms. Perfect geometrical forms seem less than perfect to our eyes: Type Design abounds with optical corrections that compensate for our perception of forms.
Garaje plays specifically with this paradox: its construction is rigorously geometrical, anchored to a scalable modular grid, with no optical correction. A perfectly objective system, but a typographical aberration, simultaneously right and wrong.
“For the last 20 years, I have extended this family in every direction, to the point of absurdity: extremely narrow or outlandishly large forms, all built from the same modules. Today it is a complete system, available in 44 widths, 5 weights, 445 fonts, hundreds of thousands of glyphs, and no contrast. Resulting in a typeface which is at the same time brutal and playful, rational and naïve.” Thomas Huot-Marchand
Garaje takes its inspiration both from the alphabets of the Bauhaus school and the vernacular inscriptions of Spanish garage owners: two worlds that share a desire to reduce typographic forms to simple geometric elements. At the Bauhaus this geometrization is ideological: it represents a rejection of tradition and the affirmation of an objective and rational vocabulary. With garage owners it is a simple matter of logic, certainly due to an ignorance of tradition. It is somewhat naïve to wish to reduce the shapes of the alphabet to elementary forms. Perfect geometrical forms seem less than perfect to our eyes: Type Design abounds with optical corrections that compensate for our perception of forms.
Garaje plays specifically with this paradox: its construction is rigorously geometrical, anchored to a scalable modular grid, with no optical correction. A perfectly objective system, but a typographical aberration, simultaneously right and wrong.
“For the last 20 years, I have extended this family in every direction, to the point of absurdity: extremely narrow or outlandishly large forms, all built from the same modules. Today it is a complete system, available in 44 widths, 5 weights, 445 fonts, hundreds of thousands of glyphs, and no contrast. Resulting in a typeface which is at the same time brutal and playful, rational and naïve.” Thomas Huot-Marchand
Garaje takes its inspiration both from the alphabets of the Bauhaus school and the vernacular inscriptions of Spanish garage owners: two worlds that share a desire to reduce typographic forms to simple geometric elements. At the Bauhaus this geometrization is ideological: it represents a rejection of tradition and the affirmation of an objective and rational vocabulary. With garage owners it is a simple matter of logic, certainly due to an ignorance of tradition. It is somewhat naïve to wish to reduce the shapes of the alphabet to elementary forms. Perfect geometrical forms seem less than perfect to our eyes: Type Design abounds with optical corrections that compensate for our perception of forms.
Garaje plays specifically with this paradox: its construction is rigorously geometrical, anchored to a scalable modular grid, with no optical correction. A perfectly objective system, but a typographical aberration, simultaneously right and wrong.
“For the last 20 years, I have extended this family in every direction, to the point of absurdity: extremely narrow or outlandishly large forms, all built from the same modules. Today it is a complete system, available in 44 widths, 5 weights, 445 fonts, hundreds of thousands of glyphs, and no contrast. Resulting in a typeface which is at the same time brutal and playful, rational and naïve.” Thomas Huot-Marchand
Garaje takes its inspiration both from the alphabets of the Bauhaus school and the vernacular inscriptions of Spanish garage owners: two worlds that share a desire to reduce typographic forms to simple geometric elements. At the Bauhaus this geometrization is ideological: it represents a rejection of tradition and the affirmation of an objective and rational vocabulary. With garage owners it is a simple matter of logic, certainly due to an ignorance of tradition. It is somewhat naïve to wish to reduce the shapes of the alphabet to elementary forms. Perfect geometrical forms seem less than perfect to our eyes: Type Design abounds with optical corrections that compensate for our perception of forms.
Garaje plays specifically with this paradox: its construction is rigorously geometrical, anchored to a scalable modular grid, with no optical correction. A perfectly objective system, but a typographical aberration, simultaneously right and wrong.
“For the last 20 years, I have extended this family in every direction, to the point of absurdity: extremely narrow or outlandishly large forms, all built from the same modules. Today it is a complete system, available in 44 widths, 5 weights, 445 fonts, hundreds of thousands of glyphs, and no contrast. Resulting in a typeface which is at the same time brutal and playful, rational and naïve.” Thomas Huot-Marchand
Garaje takes its inspiration both from the alphabets of the Bauhaus school and the vernacular inscriptions of Spanish garage owners: two worlds that share a desire to reduce typographic forms to simple geometric elements. At the Bauhaus this geometrization is ideological: it represents a rejection of tradition and the affirmation of an objective and rational vocabulary. With garage owners it is a simple matter of logic, certainly due to an ignorance of tradition. It is somewhat naïve to wish to reduce the shapes of the alphabet to elementary forms. Perfect geometrical forms seem less than perfect to our eyes: Type Design abounds with optical corrections that compensate for our perception of forms.
Garaje plays specifically with this paradox: its construction is rigorously geometrical, anchored to a scalable modular grid, with no optical correction. A perfectly objective system, but a typographical aberration, simultaneously right and wrong.
“For the last 20 years, I have extended this family in every direction, to the point of absurdity: extremely narrow or outlandishly large forms, all built from the same modules. Today it is a complete system, available in 44 widths, 5 weights, 445 fonts, hundreds of thousands of glyphs, and no contrast. Resulting in a typeface which is at the same time brutal and playful, rational and naïve.” Thomas Huot-Marchand
Garaje takes its inspiration both from the alphabets of the Bauhaus school and the vernacular inscriptions of Spanish garage owners: two worlds that share a desire to reduce typographic forms to simple geometric elements. At the Bauhaus this geometrization is ideological: it represents a rejection of tradition and the affirmation of an objective and rational vocabulary. With garage owners it is a simple matter of logic, certainly due to an ignorance of tradition. It is somewhat naïve to wish to reduce the shapes of the alphabet to elementary forms. Perfect geometrical forms seem less than perfect to our eyes: Type Design abounds with optical corrections that compensate for our perception of forms.
Garaje plays specifically with this paradox: its construction is rigorously geometrical, anchored to a scalable modular grid, with no optical correction. A perfectly objective system, but a typographical aberration, simultaneously right and wrong.
“For the last 20 years, I have extended this family in every direction, to the point of absurdity: extremely narrow or outlandishly large forms, all built from the same modules. Today it is a complete system, available in 44 widths, 5 weights, 445 fonts, hundreds of thousands of glyphs, and no contrast. Resulting in a typeface which is at the same time brutal and playful, rational and naïve.” Thomas Huot-Marchand
Garaje takes its inspiration both from the alphabets of the Bauhaus school and the vernacular inscriptions of Spanish garage owners: two worlds that share a desire to reduce typographic forms to simple geometric elements. At the Bauhaus this geometrization is ideological: it represents a rejection of tradition and the affirmation of an objective and rational vocabulary. With garage owners it is a simple matter of logic, certainly due to an ignorance of tradition. It is somewhat naïve to wish to reduce the shapes of the alphabet to elementary forms. Perfect geometrical forms seem less than perfect to our eyes: Type Design abounds with optical corrections that compensate for our perception of forms.
Garaje plays specifically with this paradox: its construction is rigorously geometrical, anchored to a scalable modular grid, with no optical correction. A perfectly objective system, but a typographical aberration, simultaneously right and wrong.
“For the last 20 years, I have extended this family in every direction, to the point of absurdity: extremely narrow or outlandishly large forms, all built from the same modules. Today it is a complete system, available in 44 widths, 5 weights, 445 fonts, hundreds of thousands of glyphs, and no contrast. Resulting in a typeface which is at the same time brutal and playful, rational and naïve.” Thomas Huot-Marchand
Garaje takes its inspiration both from the alphabets of the Bauhaus school and the vernacular inscriptions of Spanish garage owners: two worlds that share a desire to reduce typographic forms to simple geometric elements. At the Bauhaus this geometrization is ideological: it represents a rejection of tradition and the affirmation of an objective and rational vocabulary. With garage owners it is a simple matter of logic, certainly due to an ignorance of tradition. It is somewhat naïve to wish to reduce the shapes of the alphabet to elementary forms. Perfect geometrical forms seem less than perfect to our eyes: Type Design abounds with optical corrections that compensate for our perception of forms.
Garaje plays specifically with this paradox: its construction is rigorously geometrical, anchored to a scalable modular grid, with no optical correction. A perfectly objective system, but a typographical aberration, simultaneously right and wrong.
“For the last 20 years, I have extended this family in every direction, to the point of absurdity: extremely narrow or outlandishly large forms, all built from the same modules. Today it is a complete system, available in 44 widths, 5 weights, 445 fonts, hundreds of thousands of glyphs, and no contrast. Resulting in a typeface which is at the same time brutal and playful, rational and naïve.” Thomas Huot-Marchand
Garaje takes its inspiration both from the alphabets of the Bauhaus school and the vernacular inscriptions of Spanish garage owners: two worlds that share a desire to reduce typographic forms to simple geometric elements. At the Bauhaus this geometrization is ideological: it represents a rejection of tradition and the affirmation of an objective and rational vocabulary. With garage owners it is a simple matter of logic, certainly due to an ignorance of tradition. It is somewhat naïve to wish to reduce the shapes of the alphabet to elementary forms. Perfect geometrical forms seem less than perfect to our eyes: Type Design abounds with optical corrections that compensate for our perception of forms.
Garaje plays specifically with this paradox: its construction is rigorously geometrical, anchored to a scalable modular grid, with no optical correction. A perfectly objective system, but a typographical aberration, simultaneously right and wrong.
“For the last 20 years, I have extended this family in every direction, to the point of absurdity: extremely narrow or outlandishly large forms, all built from the same modules. Today it is a complete system, available in 44 widths, 5 weights, 445 fonts, hundreds of thousands of glyphs, and no contrast. Resulting in a typeface which is at the same time brutal and playful, rational and naïve.” Thomas Huot-Marchand
Garaje takes its inspiration both from the alphabets of the Bauhaus school and the vernacular inscriptions of Spanish garage owners: two worlds that share a desire to reduce typographic forms to simple geometric elements. At the Bauhaus this geometrization is ideological: it represents a rejection of tradition and the affirmation of an objective and rational vocabulary. With garage owners it is a simple matter of logic, certainly due to an ignorance of tradition. It is somewhat naïve to wish to reduce the shapes of the alphabet to elementary forms. Perfect geometrical forms seem less than perfect to our eyes: Type Design abounds with optical corrections that compensate for our perception of forms.
Garaje plays specifically with this paradox: its construction is rigorously geometrical, anchored to a scalable modular grid, with no optical correction. A perfectly objective system, but a typographical aberration, simultaneously right and wrong.
“For the last 20 years, I have extended this family in every direction, to the point of absurdity: extremely narrow or outlandishly large forms, all built from the same modules. Today it is a complete system, available in 44 widths, 5 weights, 445 fonts, hundreds of thousands of glyphs, and no contrast. Resulting in a typeface which is at the same time brutal and playful, rational and naïve.” Thomas Huot-Marchand
The Kelvin typeface is the culmination of a sensitive thinking around a modern aesthetic in typography. It is expressed through two stylistic axes — with and without serifs — with both being based on two historical ideas of modernity. Even though their designs are not based on the same skeleton, Kelvin Avec and Kelvin Sans are tied together by a common philosophy, that of building as opposed to plotting or drawing. Each one is accompanied by an italic and a titling version in which their inherent characteristics find themselves exacerbated.
Kelvin Avec takes its inspiration from typefaces which appeared at the beginning of the 18th century, attached to the family of traditional serifs. Its main reference is the Romain du Roi whose creative process is divided into two stages: a conceptual study which is then followed by an adaptation of the designs during the engraving of different sizes.
The Kelvin Sans pays tribute to the typefaces which appeared at the beginning of the 20th century and that we connect to the family of geometrical sans serifs. The observation of typefaces created by Jakob Erbar, Rudolf Koch, Edward Johnston and Paul Renner along with typefaces from promotional advertising documents from the epoch, came to nourish the design process of the Kelvin Sans.
Could lone typeface with no serifs be enough for a designer? It is the basis of this seemingly uninteresting question that Damien Gautier really got down to work to develop this typeface with its multiple facets. Thanks to the OpenType format, he first developed 4 series. “Standard”: a set of characters that are intentionally all purpose; “Geometric”: a set of characters with elementary forms that bring to mind the first typographic experiments of the Bauhaus; “Modern”: domesticated forms that refer more to characters such as Futura and Nobel; “Grotesk”: here, more designed/drawn forms close to the intentions that were at the origin of characters such as Helvetica or Akindenz grotesk. Four typefaces in one to some extent, accessible thanks to the “Stylistic set” function of the OpenType format.
Originally this typeface contained 4 weights and 7 styles: regular and italic, medium and medium italic, bold and bold italic, black. A fifth weight has been added with a light version. A display version – particularly black – was designed, leading to sometimes surprising choices. This version conserves a number of sets of characters and a certain number of alternative letters.
Finally, the demonstration is made: with a single typeface, we can indeed have many possibilities!
With the efficient and precious help of Roxane Gataud and Corentin Moyer.
Could lone typeface with no serifs be enough for a designer? It is the basis of this seemingly uninteresting question that Damien Gautier really got down to work to develop this typeface with its multiple facets. Thanks to the OpenType format, he first developed 4 series. “Standard”: a set of characters that are intentionally all purpose; “Geometric”: a set of characters with elementary forms that bring to mind the first typographic experiments of the Bauhaus; “Modern”: domesticated forms that refer more to characters such as the Futura and the Nobel; “Grotesk”: here, more designed/drawn forms close to the intentions that were at the origin of characters such as Helvetica or the Akzidenz Grotesk. Four typefaces in one to some extent, accessible thanks to the “Stylistic set” function of the OpenType format.
Finally, the demonstration is made: with a single typeface, we can indeed have many possibilities!
Could lone typeface with no serifs be enough for a designer? It is the basis of this seemingly uninteresting question that Damien Gautier really got down to work to develop this typeface with its multiple facets. Thanks to the OpenType format, he first developed 4 series. “Standard”: a set of characters that are intentionally all purpose; “Géométrique”: a set of characters with elementary forms that bring to mind the first typographic experiments of the Bauhaus; “Moderne”: domesticated forms that refer more to characters such as the Futura and the Nobel; “Grotesk”: here, more designed/drawn forms close to the intentions that were at the origin of characters such as Helvetica or the Akzidenz Grotesk. Four typefaces in one to some extent, accessible thanks to the “Stylistic set” function of the OpenType format.
Finally, the demonstration is made: with a single typeface, we can indeed have many possibilities!
In order to further extend the possibi-lities of use of the Maax typeface, we have added an IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) phonetic version, useful for the composition of linguistic works. Like all IPA typefaces, this version of Maax only exists in Regular style.
This phonetic version adds to the fact that the Maax typeface is appreciated by graphic designers and publishers for its great versatility. On its own, it can be used for many purposes and situations. There is no need to change the typeface or combine it with a second one when specific characters are needed. Maax IPA completes the Maax type family, which already possessed a number of different variants.
Could lone typeface with no serifs be enough for a designer? It is the basis of this seemingly uninteresting question that Damien Gautier really got down to work to develop this typeface with its multiple facets. Thanks to the OpenType format, he first developed 4 series. “Standard”: a set of characters that are intentionally all purpose; “Géométrique”: a set of characters with elementary forms that bring to mind the first typographic experiments of the Bauhaus; “Moderne”: domesticated forms that refer more to characters such as the Futura and the Nobel; “Grotesk”: here, more designed/drawn forms close to the intentions that were at the origin of characters such as Helvetica or the Akzidenz Grotesk. Four typefaces in one to some extent, accessible thanks to the “Stylistic set” function of the OpenType format.
Finally, the demonstration is made: with a single typeface, we can indeed have many possibilities!
Maax Unicase is a new extension of the Maax type family. It is clearly a titling variant that asserts a certain originality by having only capital letters which occasionally borrow from the forms of minuscule letters. Available in two weights – Bold and Black – this version presents a design which is particular in a number of areas, and its use will not go unnoticed. Damien Gautier has for example made the choice to emphasize certain details present in the original typeface and to emphasize its originality when compared to other available sans-serif typefaces.
Like the Maax typeface, this Unicase version also has alternative characters. Although fewer in number, they allow for a large number of variations and to adjust the silhouette of words. This typeface will clearly be suitable for the composition of titles and the creation of logotypes.
To distinguish it even further, the accents and all of the diacritical marks have a particular design. Particularly thin and not very cumbersome, they make it possible to reduce line-spacing and to obtain a dense composition which is appropriate to the spirit of this typeface with its intentionally reduced letter-spacing.
Molitor, designed by Matthieu Cortat in 2019, is a modernist yet joyous typeface; a dive into an Art Deco pool, named after the eponymous and emblematic building in Paris. Theatrical and spectacular, Molitor recalls an adventurous, fresh and optimistic modernism, an iridescent wave on the chlorine surface of an olympic pool.
A lineal with barely contrasted and slightly flared lines, Molitor features 12 styles separated into two optical sizes: Text and Display. Each optical size has a roman and an italic in Light, Regular and Bold. In the text version, the proportions of the capitals obey the canons of the imperial roman capital, reinterpreted in the manner of the modernist stone-cut inscriptions of the 1920s and 1930s. The lowercase letters have a traditional structure with a short x-height. In its display version, the proportions of Molitor are exacerbated, approaching the dramatic spontaneity
of French Art Deco.
While the straight and oblique lines only extend in height, the round shapes expand in all directions. With a design different from the wider and much more playful regular, the italic of the Molitor is quite typical. Despite its sharp 16° slant, it retains rigorously circular round shapes. Finally, as Art Deco gave the general public access to the “geometric avant-garde”, Molitor allows users to define their own size and style thanks to variable font technology.
This typeface takes its inspiration from the characters that one can find on the nameplates of French streets. For a long time, Damien Gauthier has been interested in these letters that everyone sees on a daily basis without really knowing them. No one seems to pay them any attention and yet they reveal themselves to be particularly interesting due to their great diversity. Though we can imagine that it is always a question of the same typeface, a closer study shows that a number of alphabets co-exist. One common point: elementary, robust forms, that seem more to have been traced than drawn by a few industrial draughtsmen, eager to be able to compose names of streets, avenues and boulevards in the restricted space of a standardised enamelled plate (well almost, this is France after all!)
It is definitely not a question of smoothing out and unifying all of the drawings finishing with a slick and homogenous typeface! On the contrary, Damien Gautier wants these typefaces to conserve the disparity of the typographic forms that have been noted.
In an apparent logic of organisation and of design that somewhat amusedly reminds us of the method used by Adrian Frutiger for the Univers typeface, the different series of the Plaak conserve the independent designs in a certain number of details (accents, the specific forms of a few letters: G, K, M, Q, R, etc.)
This typeface is composed of 24 styles that display the typographic wealth of this source of inspiration.
“Plaak 1 – Sathonay”: very narrow characters;
“Plaak 2 – Griffon” and “Plaak 3 – Pradel”: narrow characters;
“Plaak 4 – Terme” and “Plaak 5 – Foch”: wide characters;
“Plaak 6 – Ney”: extra-wide characters.
Each serie (from 1 to 6) contains a number of weights and a set of capital and small capitals (because the lowercase letters were almost completely missing from French street signs). By activating the “Ligatures” function, a particular series of ligatures refer to the origin of this typeface…
Thanks to its many variants and its design that is rid of any outdated pastiche, this typeface reveals itself to have a large range of possible uses: press, publishing, signage, visual identity.
An enhanced version of lowercase letters is currently being studied. Its launch is planned for 2018.
With the efficient and precious help of Roxane Gataud.
The Seabirds is an homage to the historical legacy of lineals, combining different sub-genres of the sans-serif category within a single typeface.
The project emerged through the study of book covers from the first half of the 20th century—particularly those crafted in the 1930s for the renowned publisher Albatross. They were featuring new and “modern” sans-serifs, most probably contributing to their growing world-wide popularity. Initially conceived as a revival of several well-known typefaces, the evolution of this project involved numerous redesigns to thoroughly appropriate and refine forms that have contributed to the History of Typography. The references that inspired the Seabirds are ultimately plural, diverse, and harmoniously blended for a consistent and contemporary design.
The default set is predominantly geometrical, while the use of OpenType stylistic sets enables a transition from orthogonal to flat terminals, guiding the design to a more humanistic style. The uppercases maintain proportions reminiscent of classic Roman capitals, while revisions to the lowercases have been made to achieve a more balanced and cohesive rhythm. The ratio between ascender height and x-height is deliberately generous to ensure a convincing legibility in body text.
The undeniable value of this project lies in its extensive Latin glyphs set. This means that in addition to the common languages of European origin (which are generally supported in the Western world), the Seabirds covers Vietnamese and languages of African and American origin which use the latin script. To meet the needs of linguists, teachers, academics and researchers, a particular attention has been given to developing phonetic and latin transliteration signs as well.
The name of the typeface, Seabirds, evokes the origins of this project, but also those who travel by land, air or sea.
Tifo takes its inspiration from the lettering that can be found on the banners brandished by the most fervent tifosi (supporters) during football matches.
Emerging in Italian stadiums in the early days of the Years of Lead, these supporters showed their support for their favorite team using banners, chants, and smoke bombs.
Initiated by Roman Tronchin in 2021 as part of the ECAL’s Master’s degree in Type Design, the Tifo typeface comes in five styles: Roma, Venezia, Bologna, Palermo, and Milano.
Romain Tronchin developed this typeface by carefully examining tifosi fanzines from the 1970s and 1980s, with each variant corresponding to a different style of lettering.
Some “oddities” visible in these vernacular sources–which could rightly be considered as typographic errors–were intentionally conserved. They provide Tifo with a singular and authentic character that is part of a long-standing tradition of typically Italian public lettering.
The five styles of Tifo share the same underlying frame, but each one “wears its own colors”!
With a geometrical construction, and a design reduced to elementary forms, the Roma (with square counterforms), Venezia (with its rectangular outlines and circular counterforms), Bologna (outline), and Palermo (stencil) styles are four versions clearly intended for titling, designed to be used in large sizes.
The Milano style, whose design is closest to the type family’s frame, is a polyvalent version that can be adapted for use as both titling and running text.
All of the styles share the same proportions, thus allowing graphic designers to easily combine the five versions in their compositions.