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2021 2021
Maël Bächtold – Milkshake

TYPE DESIGN

Maël Bächtold – Milkshake

with Matthieu Cortat, Kai Bernau

Milkshake is a typeface family which was initiated by anemoia (nostalgia felt for a period in the past that was not lived) for the 70s. The music, the freedom, the vibes, and mostly the aesthetics in terms of type and graphic design of that period strongly influenced the direction of the project. Milkshake is divided into two sub-families. The first one, Milkshake Display is the spine of the project: its voluptuous curves and generous drops combined with sharp edges give it a dynamic look while its alternates and swashes exaggerate its flow and funkiness. To add a contemporary touch and versatility, the family is complemented by text cuts, which are much calmer, friendlier and more stable, suited for longer lines in small sizes.

Chiachi Chao – Kleisch

TYPE DESIGN

Chiachi Chao – Kleisch

with Kai Bernau, Alice Savoie

Bi-scriptual type design is a challenge for graphic designers, even more so in a world of cross-cultural exchange. Kleisch is a Latin serif typeface designed to work with Chinese Ming-style fonts. It is a synthesis of baroque and neo-classical typography, as the types of Nicholas Kis, Christoffel van Dijck or Johann Michael Fleischmann have a similar stroke construction to CJK (Chinese-Korean-Japanese) Ming-style typefaces. Kleisch does not match with a specific font. However, as a variable font, it offers adjustable axes (weight and contrast) to adapt with different Ming typefaces.

Marcel Saidov – Semantik

TYPE DESIGN

Marcel Saidov – Semantik

with Kai Bernau, Alice Savoie

Mention Très bien Semantik is a typeface family which resulted from research into typefaces for telephone directories and which revisits the “heavy-top” emphasis to increase legibility. Semantik is loosely based on Ladislas Mandel’s Nordica and Colorado, as well as Roger Excoffon’s Antique Olive . The project explores the technical aspects and stylistic elements of typefaces for telephone directories in a screen-based environment, improving legibility in the contexts of both continuous reading on screen and reading while scrolling. The typeface adapts to various screen environments as a variable font with a responsive axis, and adjusts to the dimensions of your computer or mobile device. Semantik contains in total 30 separate styles and includes five weights and italics for desktop, mobile and list versions.

Paul Christ – Microcosm of Proportion

TYPE DESIGN

Paul Christ – Microcosm of Proportion

with Kai Bernau, Marie Lusa

“Cosmos, noun. The universe, especially when it is thought of as an ordered system.” Inspired by spiritual movements such as the Theosophical Society or the vegetarian colony of Monte Verità, this project explores the influence of geometry, numbers and systems on the arts and design. The result is a book consisting of three parts that reflect the development of the project. It begins with the presentation of the research material and continues with a practical exploration of geometrical figures and their proportions. The third chapter applies my insights on the development of a proportional system which forms the base of the typeface family used throughout the book.

Alberto Malossi – Beaujon

TYPE DESIGN

Alberto Malossi – Beaujon

with Kai Bernau, Alice Savoie

Beaujon is a typeface family consisting of five weights and five corresponding italics. Primarily designed for contemporary text setting, its origins can be traced to Pierre Simon Fournier’s contrast model (1764) and landmark Dutch baroque types, such as the ones by Nicholas Kis (1690). Beaujon leverages its influences liberally and quite unsystematically, striving to build tension among rather organic gestures and an intrinsically digital construction. This essential discrepancy gives Beaujon a peculiar effervescence in both running text and larger, more flamboyant display usage.

Benedetta Bovani – Acquerino

TYPE DESIGN

Benedetta Bovani – Acquerino

with Marie Lusa, Kai Bernau

Acquerino is a family project that revolves around the Acquerino Nature Reserve in Tuscany, Italy. Growing up near the place, the idea for this project was born out of the curiosity and affection that both me and my brother have for it. We felt the need to create something that reflected our thoughts and emotions about such a place while at the same time letting people know about it. Bringing together our knowledge, memories and skills we designed two books. The first book is a travel guide that aims to inform the reader about the reserve: from the flora to the fauna, hiking itineraries and nearby villages. The second one is an album where we collected words and photographs that reflect on the value of nature and of memory. Two specific typefaces were also designed for the books.

Nicolas Bernklau – Resial / Strength in Fragility

TYPE DESIGN

Nicolas Bernklau – Resial / Strength in Fragility

with Kai Bernau, Marie Lusa

Strength in Fragility is a dialogue between fashion (Anna Deller-Yee, RCA) and type design (Nicolas Bernklau, ECAL). To find the intersections of the two design fields, shapes are explored and brought to life: from 2D to 3D, shape to object, printable to wearable. A publication showcases a common shape pool made up of type letterings as a foundation for the development of fashion silhouettes, woven materials and prints around themes of individuality, strength and vulnerability. To enhance the feeling of the project, the accompanying sans serif typeface family Resial was designed. Resial balances the functionality of condensed Swiss/German typefaces from the early 20th century and idiosyncrasies found while researching Latin typefaces in the Japanese graphic context.

Simona Alina Andone – Leisure Time

TYPE DESIGN

Simona Alina Andone – Leisure Time

with Kai Bernau, Marie Lusa

Free time. Did it exist in the past? Does it still exist? What implication does it have for society? Nowadays, the distinction between leisure and work is more subtle, calling into question the true meaning and importance of free time. The topic was widely discussed during the 13th Triennale di Milano in 1964. Through the appropriation of archival iconography and a fictional dialogue with essays from 1964 and nowadays, the editorial project aims to highlight the ambiguity between past and present in their connection to free time. Cordusio is a typeface family designed as part of the editorial project. Inspired by 1960s Italian type design, with an added contemporary touch, it is available in Display and Text, with slanted italic for both cuts.

Anne Seseke – Machine like Man

TYPE DESIGN

Anne Seseke – Machine like Man

with Marie Lusa, Kai Bernau

This publication focuses on the link between humans and machines through the lens of the keyboard – a visual story of the evolution of the keyboard over the years, alongside its user. The curated text and images, playing on scales, give us insight into this discreet object which has become an essential part of our  daily lives: the architecture of the keys, the act of typing, the choreography of the hands, the notion of pocket-size and handheld objects, and the constant evolution of our idea of the office. The content is supported by a bespoke font, inspired by early computer printing techniques. I played with a dot matrix grid to create a more human typeface, resulting in a family of four styles: MLM Dot, Vector, Pixel and Italic.

Antonio D’Elisiis – Hierax Antiqua

TYPE DESIGN

Antonio D’Elisiis – Hierax Antiqua

with Kai Bernau, Alice Savoie

Hierax Antiqua is a contemporary typeface family composed of 24 styles with text and display cut, suitable for editorial publication and identity projects. The typeface is inspired by an ancient book printed in Venice around 1750, with various punches cut in different periods (1550 – 1780). Hence the aim of the project is to capture the spirit of Renaissance and Baroque types by analysing the works of Nicolas Jenson, Francesco Griffo, Claude Garamont, Pierre Haultin, Robert Granjon, Hendrik van den Keere, Christoffel van Dijck, Nicholas Kis, Simon de Colines, Guillaume Le Bé, Pierre-Simon Fournier le Jeune and Giambattista Bodoni. Hierax Antiqua aims to crystallise this era with an added contemporary feel through rigorous digital design.

Romain Tronchin – Supertifo

TYPE DESIGN

Romain Tronchin – Supertifo

with Kai Bernau, Marie Lusa

Supertifo is a typeface family of five styles inspired by the lettering on the banners of ultras. Born at the beginning of the 1970s in the Years of Lead in Italy, ultras were inspired by communist groups to support their club with banners, chants and smoke bombs, taking this passion to the extreme. At the same time, a group of scientists called the Club of Rome published an alarming report about the future of the planet. This report did not have the expected impact and 50 years later the situation is more than worrying. What would have happened if the Club of Rome had been supported by a group of ultras, like a football club?

Lucile Billot – Parallax LCG

TYPE DESIGN

Lucile Billot – Parallax LCG

with Matthieu Cortat, Kai Bernau

This multi-script typeface family covers Latin, Greek and Cyrillic, balanced to be typeset side by side in a homogeneous way. Designed for text purposes, it includes several weights and italics for each script, and the sharpness of the drawing (its “digitality”) is made to match contemporary writings.  *The hand, the pencil; then the broad pen, the nodes, the handles.* Reflected in the shapes is a tension between a tool-based approach (through instrokes/outstrokes and calligraphic features) and an outline-based one. The calligraphic “frontline” (as G. Noordzij calls it) sometimes breaks and each contour, each line, is thought of as an autonomous shape. Both approaches play a crisp choreography, resulting in a scalable typeface that works at several sizes.

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