Substanz

Paul Sturm – Substanz

Substanz is a typeface that can be customised and adjusted to diverse artistic needs. The type family contains two single-line cuts (Upright and Italic), which act as a gateway into the typeface, as they only become usable when something is added, e.g. a stroke or a pen. They constitute an interface for graphic designers to engage with the typeface and add their own ideas and “handwriting” to the design. The typeface is completed by four text cuts (Regular, Italic, Bold and Bold Italic), which aim for good legibility and balanced text colour. They are designed for situations where legibility is favoured over expression – for example in small sizes.

Diploma project (2023) by Paul Sturm

Know-how
Type design

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Projects related to Type design

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First-year students were invited to manually sketch the typographic skeleton of lowercase alphabet letters. The objective was to maintain the proportions, curves, and characteristic axes of each letter while paying close attention to visual coherence and consistency in the drawing.

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  Designing a logotype means defining a strong visual identity anchored in a specific context. First-year Graphic Design students developed a hand-drawn logotype based on a subject, theme, or environment of their own choosing. This creation was informed by prior research in typographic archives. Each student produced a reference booklet and a specimen system based on six or more typefaces, to ground their visual and conceptual exploration. Balancing typographic culture and contemporary expression, each project investigates what makes a visual identity truly distinctive.  

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The second-year students had to vectorize a typeface they had drawn last semester.

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Third-year students had to develop a typography and digitise it. 

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