This Week From the Desk
It's been a hot week for type releases and change in the use of type around the globe! Riding the energy of a successful Typographics Conference in NYC last weekend, several foundries released new families and products, magazines took a turn at new expressions with type, and of course, lots of new inspiration. Let the summer heat continue.
Recently independent Tobias Frere-Jones and his incredible crew of fellow type designers at Frere-Jones Type released their long-awaited third family release Exchange this week. Evoking the spirit and skills of elite typefounders past, and TFJ's visionary approach to the future of type design, Exchange is nothing short of a modern classic that is as useful as it is interesting to look at.
Tobias states “The strategy for word shape coherence comes from the early “Ionic” style of slab serifs, while Bell Gothic offers a lesson in reinforcing the individual identities of letters. Sure-footed sobriety, inherited from Victorian text faces, runs throughout.” Exchange is a treat to study for any type designer, and an achievement to be proud of for the entire Frere-Jones Type team. Explore the whole family on frerejones.com.
Bloomberg Business Week Makes a Refresh
Although the initial rollout of the new design direction for Bloomberg Businessweek happened two weeks ago, analysis and discussion around it's new look, process, and impact on the industry is just getting started. This process article from Creative Review, casts some fascinating light on the new direction for the Magazine. Or, if you prefer, this video:
H&Co. has doubled down on the influence of the hand in contemporary fonts. In fact, they bet on it 6 times. Inkwell is a family of 6 different styles all build on the same hand-written chassis. Each family has its own range of six weights to boost. Bottom line, if your looking for a handwriting style font, you'd be hard pressed not to find it in this family. The more unconventional drawn styles are a nice surprise, if anything adding marketing value for the more expected script and sans offerings.
There is so much to unpack with Inkwell, but H&Co. has managed to pull together a cohesive and approachable presentation of every last character here. Read the entire story of Inkwell and explore the whole family on typography.com.
Class-act and top-shelf letter-lady Jessica Hische lends her mug to the Typography Issue of Print Magazine, rolling out in the next weeks. The issue's cover was guest designed by Louise Fili, Jessica's first mentor and employer.... the awesomeness of this issue compounds on itself. If the cover headlines are anything to guide us, the issue itself looks to be a 'can't-miss' get.
Type Media alum and Finnish All-star Hanna Hakala released Valiance this week with the Dutch Type Library. Hanna initially developed Valiance in 2014 where it won silver in the Finnish design competition Vuoden Huiput. Now, it can be yours. Your very own piece of Finnish Design History. Buy the handsome and linguistically deep Valiance from the Dutch Type Library.
This edition of the Culture Podcast from Monocle features Paula Scher and Adrian Shaughnessy, where they have a nostalgic and engaging conversation about a few old things, a few new things, and the state of things. This is a half hour well spent. Listen on the Monocle site.