TYPE DESIGN

Lana Soufeh – Toujan Display: Contextual Arabic Typeface

with Kai Bernau, Matthieu Cortat

Today, most typographic design is done in Latin script and type design software is geared towards Western scripts. Toujan is a contextual Arabic typeface that aims to explore the potential of this software to reintegrate versatility and connectivity in Arabic script, while preserving its dynamic nature. It is inspired by the Tawqii’ style, a hybrid of thuluth and naskh calligraphy and features ligatures that enhance the visual allure of the text but also serve a functional purpose, optimising the spacing and improving the text flow. Toujan pushes the boundaries of Arabic type by reintroducing one of its unique features, i.e. that of connecting all words in a sentence with a series of swashes that link the last letter of each word to the first letter of the following word.

TYPE DESIGN

Minjong Kim – Amateur

with Kai Bernau, Matthieu Cortat

Amateur is a serif typeface that synthesises the calligraphic features derived from historical research. It evokes a niche sanctuary for a forgotten genre, exuding a sense of elegance. Inspired by the letterforms of early antique German models, Amateur cleverly plays with a distinctive form of horizontality, simultaneously revealing untamed strokes and meticulously crafted details. The uniform text styles provide robust, harmonised textures for optimal readability, while the display styles amplify the expressive qualities of each letter to the extreme, fearlessly embracing deliberate imperfections that blur conventional type systems and showcase captivating aesthetics.

TYPE DESIGN

Coline Besson – Girlz – They Gave Us Pink Let Us Make It Powerful

with Kai Bernau, Julia Born

This editorial project embraces a new interpretation of the stereotypes of Femininity. The conscious reappropriation of its attributes becomes an act of awareness, subversion and empowerment. As a woman, being dissonant, allegedly vulgar and girly is a way to disrupt and challenge the established order and the agreed expectations of society. The publication gathers and highlights the works of a variety of female artists for this cause. It also features a custom-made font, Courtesy, with a neo-kitsch display cut that plays with proportions and consistency and a reader-friendly text cut – both sharing specific and sharp features. Finally, a monospace version allows for more freedom in compositions. It is used where traditional typesetting would favour italics.

TYPE DESIGN

Paul Sturm – Substanz

with Kai Bernau, Alice Savoie

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.

TYPE DESIGN

Niklas Herrmann – Kyū Maru Gothic

with Kai Bernau, Alice Savoie

Inspired by hand-painted Japanese station signs from the late 1950s, Kyū Maru Gothic interprets and expands their handmade heritage into a coherent rounded sans serif and multiscript Latin/Japanese typeface. It carefully considers the warm and individual character created by the brush of the original sign painters and integrates it coherently into a typeface that is aimed at contemporary use. Further following the source, the typeface comes on a width axis to allow for more flexible typesetting for its intended use at display sizes.

TYPE DESIGN

Edouard Bérard – Sita

with Kai Bernau, Alice Savoie

Sita is a family of sans and serif typefaces with origins in the Scotch Roman style. Sita Serif is a contemporary interpretation of Miller and Richard’s 1822 Double Pica Roman. Sita Sans is derived from its counterpart, with influences from early British grotesques from the same foundry. Designed to be set together, Sita Sans and Sita Serif are optically matched for optimal typesetting. While they share the same construction, they complement each other by retaining their unique characteristics. Sita’s harmonious texture and intricate details make it suitable for both small and large text sizes. Each style is available in five weights, from light to black, with corresponding italics. An additional display variant, Sans Black Condensed, completes the family.

TYPE DESIGN

Feng Juan Jun – Solux

with Kai Bernau, Radim Peško

Solux is a typeface family that emerged from a study of an often-overlooked genre – the slab serif fonts. The goal of Solux Roman is to be functional and enduring, prioritising timelessness over trends, with its static construction and human-crafted details. On the other hand, Solux Italic has been designed to be narrower and more calligraphic, allowing for a broader range of typographic applications. The design of the family draws inspiration from slab-serif logos such as the ones on Honda’s cars, which often exhibit a sense of stability and confidence. Solux aims to offer a balanced and contemporary typographic solution, for both print and wayfinding.

TYPE DESIGN

Quirk85

with Kai Bernau, Radim Peško

Quirk 85 started with the discovery by Kim Minjong of a fascinating Branding Manual from Korea dating from the late 70s and early 80s. Sharing a mutual fascination for logotypes and corporate items, he paired with Juan Jun Feng to embark on a journey that transcends cultural boundaries. Both born in the 90s, they unearthed striking similarities in their childhood experience, at a time when both China and Korea went through distinctive paths toward economic development, resulting in indelible impressions from brainwashing advertisement, the rapid transformation of cities, and the overwhelming wave of technological innovation. A time of iconic design, that the two type designers explored through cultural narratives and historical context. Quirk 85 is a fusion of those elements: impact of commercialisation, the intricate web of education, production, daily life, healthcare and more. By bridging their two distinct nations, they aspire to evoke a sense of shared identity and collective memory, inviting viewers to embark on a visual and intellectual journey.

TYPE DESIGN

Wallace

with Kai Bernau

Wallace is a semester project by Gabriela Jaime and Pauline Heppeler, developed during the course “Tools Make Shapes”, led by Kai Bernau. “We worked with the metaphor of dancing and how our body behaves when it moves. This led to experimentation with two types of mechanisms; the first prototype followed the scissors logic, while the later one (and final) followed the compass logic. This typology of object allowed us to translate dance movements like spin and pivot, drag and drag across (sliding along the floor) onto an open typographical stroke and structure. It was important for us to show the coordination and movement of two that becomes one – hence we chose to maintain the final output as an open stroke typeface.”

TYPE DESIGN

Sergei Rasskazov – Entro

with Kai Bernau, Alice Savoie

Entro: A font family for posters and web that combines modern digital technologies and pays tribute to traditional analogue letterpress wood type techniques. Entro Press: A wood type modular system for Letterpress that brings variable features from digital to analogue. Entro Text: A font with soft rounded shapes in variable format, from light to black, for texts and captions. Latin, Cyrillic and Greek supported. Entro Brutal: Geometric typeface without optical compensations that gives brutal charm to text. Entro Py: A series of experimental variable fonts inspired by the specificities of entropy, handcrafted and code-generated with Python.

TYPE DESIGN

Samira Schneuwly – Lyga

with Kai Bernau, Alice Savoie

Lyga is a restrained and balanced serif typeface family with heavily angled italics to emphasise individual words, short paragraphs or brief headlines. Designed as a utilitarian text font, it is well suited for small sizes where its even and harmonious text colour comes into effect. Lyga draws from a source originally designed as a lead typeface in the late 19th century. Elzévir Turlot was found in the Caractères de Labeurs de l’Imprimerie A. Rey specimen and was carefully interpreted in order to create a design that supports present-day text settings, while retaining the spirit and charm of its original appearance. Lyga comes in six weights with corresponding italics.

TYPE DESIGN

Dominik Bissem – Rivale

with Kai Bernau, Alice Savoie

Rivale Serif and Rivale Grotesk are the main typefaces in this family. Both styles are designed to be used at the same time, while retaining their own character. The structure is not mathematically based on the same skeleton, the optical impression stands in the foreground and reflects the concept of the system: as homogeneous as necessary and as independent as possible. Throughout the design process both styles constantly influenced one another, and the system grew organically. Serif and Grotesk come in five weights – light, regular, medium, bold, and dark – with matching italics. The presentation attempts to show the typefaces in a realistic terrain and contrasts them with the author’s own paintings.

TYPE DESIGN

Laura Zsófia Csocsán – Neureal

with Kai Bernau, Marie Lusa

The book Neureal features an exploration of AI software that was tested on a series of images. Glitches and the software’s “residues” expose the neural filter’s activity, which colourises black and white photographs. The visual material highlights different scenarios in relation to our technology-influenced, everyday lives, shown in contrast with images of flowers and nature. They ultimately construct an alternate reality created by the programme. Neureal Display is a reverse-contrast sans, accompanied by a Mono version designed for small sizes. Initial drawings based on visual distortions were extrapolated, generating new ideas with mathematical calculations. The final typeface consists of these revised and redrawn shapes as a result of this back-and-forth experimentation with the software.

TYPE DESIGN

Joana Siniavskaja – Parallel I-IV

with Kai Bernau, Alice Savoie

Parallel I–IV is a text typeface composed of four cuts – text, italic, cursive italic and a back slant. Primarily drawn for print application, the family contains an optically corrected screen cut. The typeface provides the possibility to create a typographical hierarchy using a single weight, pointing to new ways of highlighting in print and web environments. The project came from a desire to design a dynamic typeface with strong character in long running text both in screen and print mediums. While creating unique shapes for contemporary use, the design is inspired by Transitional typefaces with a look at various Baroque and Modern typefaces. Remaining functional in small sizes, the typeface retains its qualities throughout the cuts and is suitable for title sizes as well.

TYPE DESIGN

Charly Derouault – Europa

with Kai Bernau, Alice Savoie

Europa is a multi-script typeface that builds on the history of European Grotesque typography. Its forms are inherited from Akzidenz Grotesk but developed through a more subtle contrast. The typeface is stable, contemporary. Applied to a utopian project, i.e., the creation of a new pan-European motorway network born under the agreement of all the countries on the continent, the three scripts which compose Europa were drawn jointly, the design of each script significantly influencing the design of the others. Envisaged as an additional or alternative solution to the European motorway signage, the typographic system is completed by a less contrasted, more condensed and rationalised signage body.

TYPE DESIGN

Raphaela Haefliger – Aligna

with Kai Bernau, Alice Savoie

Aligna is a typeface that aims to improve the typographic composition of web pages. Thanks to a combination of variable axes, it fills up the white space without recognising it. It balances the two pitfalls that are distorted characters and irregular composition and provides a regular text grey. Aligna can be combined with an algorithm that distributes the blank space of the line. During research for this project, a parametric font was created to evaluate the respective influence of different aspects of type design. Aligna gathers and combines the ideal value for each element combined on one variable font axis.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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?

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.

TYPE DESIGN

Sophie Wietlisbach – Typewriter Trio

with Kai Bernau, Alice Savoie

“Typewriter Trio” is a free interpretation of three typewriter fonts, which keeps the unit system imposed by the mechanics of the machine: “Plakat” and “Advocate” are monospaced while “Thesis” is proportional, based on a finer unit. This project connects to my dissertation about three Swiss manufacturers who specialised in the production of fonts for typewriters between 1941 and 1997: Caractères SA, Setag and Novatype. The digital reinterpretations offer contemporary versions of the fonts adapted for modern use. info@sophiewietlisbach.ch https://www.sophiewietlisbach.ch

TYPE DESIGN

Weichi He – Photonic

with Kai Bernau, Alice Savoie

"Photonic" is a serif typeface, resulting from the study and interpretation of the iconic “Cooper Black” originally released in 1922. The project re-imagines the blurry/rounded and heavy classic as a rational and constructed typeface. It further expands on how it would look as an extremely thin and delicate font (“Photonic White”), and how the interpolation in between can deliver a subtle and nuanced cut suitable for continuous reading (“Photonic Grey”). These explorations reveal unexpected structures in its letterforms, with quirks and traits unique to each cut, yet preserving overall consistency. Weichi.he@gmail.com https://www.weichi.works

TYPE DESIGN

Sascha Bente – Rhetorik

with Kai Bernau, Alice Savoie

“Rhetorik” is a typeface family consisting of 16 weights. Its subliminal structure is based on a calligraphic model by Giovanni Francesco Cresci (16th century), the origins of which can be found in Walter Tiemann’s “Orpheus” font (1926) and in Otl Aicher’s “Rotis” (1988). While Tiemann serves as a form-giving source, Aicher’s theory of “Rotis” is the decisive reference for “Rhetorik’s” family structure. hello@saschabente.com http://www.saschabente.com

TYPE DESIGN

Benedek Takács – Miniatűr Utópia

with Kai Bernau, Julia Born, Roland Früh

Miniatűr Utópia is a modular travelling exhibition introducing Hungarian miniature books made during the Soviet era in Hungary. The project goes hand in hand with a detailed research that includes interviews with members of the miniature book society.

TYPE DESIGN

Typetitle, projet de semestre par Quentin Coulombier

with Kai Bernau

Typetitle is a condensed typeface designed for newspaper headlines which was inspired by American wooden type models.

TYPE DESIGN

Eliott Grunewald – Epoxy. Diploma Project by Eliott Grunewald

with Kai Bernau, Radim Pesko

EPOXY is project based on the experimentation of a new tool, using the relation  between type and space, to present a serie of 3D typographic elements. The elements are then included in differents spaces, they are defined in 4 dimensions, the x and y axes but also a third dimension: the space, and the fourth: the time. Each shape and “lettering” is designed in a lot of different steps, from the structure, to the sculpture, the texture and then the animation in a particular space. The video in VR refers to the idea of a specimen, to display and show the typographic shapes.

TYPE DESIGN

Tools make shapes. Semester Project by Malte Bentzen et Kaj Lehmann

with Kai Bernau

TYPE DESIGN

Beyond Bézier. Explorations of drawing methods in type design

with Matthieu Cortat, Alice Savoie, Kai Bernau, Radim Pesko, Roland Früh

In the early age of digital type, several methods were explored to draw letterforms. One of them, the Bézier spline, an algorithm that generates curves with a small quantity of data, has the crucial advantage of sparing computer memory and processing resources. It is today the industry standard. This project aims to question and reevaluate it, to move beyond established trends, to develop innovative ideas by exploring alternative methods of drawing curves, and letterforms.