Feed:Intelligent - Design

Steven Heller’s Font of the Month: Brutal Types

Mon, 01 Jun 2026 07:42:49 +0000

“Brutal” is such a nasty, albeit seductive, word. A quick visit to my desktop Oxford dictionary confirms that the adjective “brutal” is, etymologically speaking, derived from a corruption of the name Brutus, the Roman immortalized as Julius Caesar’s infamous assassin (tip of the hat to William Shakespeare). “Brutal” in current […]

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Fonts in Focus: Evert

Thu, 28 May 2026 18:34:47 +0000

Read the book, Typographic Firsts

Welcome to another edition of Fonts in Focus, our under-500-word reviews of great typefaces. Today, we focus on a recent release from Kostas Bartsokas of Foundry5. Evert is a large, thoroughly modern sans serif family that has been designed with a lot of thought to the details. It draws inspiration […]

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Font Faces: Nick Shinn

Wed, 13 May 2026 03:06:56 +0000

Read the book, Typographic Firsts

Welcome to the debut issue of Font Faces: the people behind the type. We ask type designers from around the globe the same five core questions (plus some potential follow-up or topical questions) and thus gain some insights into their working practices, their personalities and what makes them tick. Nick […]

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Steven Heller’s Font of the Month: Puffery

Tue, 05 May 2026 07:18:27 +0000

Read the book, Typographic Firsts

Sometimes I get a hankering to see someone use a good old Blackletter, spikey Fraktur, or rounded Textura that transports me back to medieval Europe when a printer’s digital handiwork was created with ten fingers. That Blackletter was anathema to the later movements of Modern European designers and typographers, so […]

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Steven Heller’s Font of the Month: Gilway Paradox

Tue, 14 Apr 2026 03:43:54 +0000

Read the book, Typographic Firsts

While trawling ILT for this month’s highlighted typeface, I was struck immediately by the elastic quality and irregular kinetic form of Art Grootfontein’s 2025 Gilway Paradox. The paradox is that it is not a beautiful nor an ugly face but a somewhat awkward one that excites something deep inside, reminding me of times of […]

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A Brief History of the Dust Jacket

Fri, 03 Apr 2026 05:41:25 +0000

Read the book, Typographic Firsts

Slip cover, dust cover, or dust jacket — whatever you call it, and whether you’re the type to trash or treasure them — have you ever wondered what purpose they serve and when they were invented? In Europe, the first printed books were typically sold without covers! Printers were not also […]

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Steven Heller’s Font of the Month: Curve Display

Wed, 04 Mar 2026 04:46:38 +0000

Read the book, Typographic Firsts

What typographers and designers want most in a font is a family that, under the right conditions, exudes a familiar yet distinctive voice. As I was scrolling around for this month’s selection, I found just that very face. It is a distinctive yet suggestive legacy with a “feeling” that is […]

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Jim Parkinson, 1941–2025

Fri, 27 Jun 2025 02:26:33 +0000

Jim Parkinson—lettering artist, type designer, and painter—died today at his home in Oakland, California, after a long struggle with Alzheimer’s.

Typographica is Twenty Years Old

Tue, 12 Jul 2022 07:23:04 +0000

This website just passed its twentieth birthday. In web years, that’s more like a centennial. At the risk of waxing nostalgic, I’m posting a few highlights from our first year.

A Grammar of Typography: Classical Book Design in the Digital Age

Thu, 06 Jan 2022 21:55:39 +0000

Argetsinger aims to teach a new generation of designers how to uphold the standards and principles of the printers of old, in this strange new era when the composing stick is a text frame and the ink stone is a menu of swatches.

Chahine & Samarskaya Cochair TDC’S 25th Type Design Competition

Thu, 09 Dec 2021 02:14:18 +0000

Can the world’s longest-running type design competition reimagine itself as a truly global display of abundance? Tanya George interviews this year’s cochairs.

Now Open: the Typographica Library

Wed, 20 Oct 2021 07:09:08 +0000

We just launched the Typographica Library, a digital bookshelf of type and lettering resources to aid research and selection.

Type Design in the Museum: Acquiring the Immaterial

Thu, 15 Apr 2021 15:50:42 +0000

Craig Eliason explores how the peculiarities inherent to type design shed light on the purpose and practices of the design museum in the contemporary world.

Sandoll Chilseong Shipyard

Fri, 05 Mar 2021 05:10:46 +0000

In 1952, toward the end of the Korean War, Chilseong Shipyard was established in Sokcho, South Korea. The humble family operation built ships and served as a local fishery for generations. In 2017, third-generation owner Choi Yoonseong and his partner Baek Eunjeong restored it as a cultural space to preserve the shipyard’s legacy for future generations, so they could connect with the site. The new Shipyard includes a café, exhibition space, and playground, and also has a new look with a custom typeface.

Elfreth

Fri, 05 Mar 2021 05:09:54 +0000

I can count the number of times I’ve used a blackletter (unironically, anyway) on one hand. But something about Elfreth caught my attention and held onto it like a Brockhaus-Heuer schraubstöck.

Tomasa

Thu, 04 Mar 2021 05:12:51 +0000

Anyone who is from or has lived in Spanish-speaking countries will be familiar with the concept of perreo. It’s a word that describes how we dance to rhythms like reggaeton or funk carioca. The way perreo flows through Tomasa is palpable.

Carolina Laudon

Wed, 03 Mar 2021 17:41:13 +0000

Swedish typographer and type designer Carolina Laudon is the first woman president of the ATypI. Ksenya Samarskaya caught up with her after last year’s conference to discuss her role in, and vision for the organization.

Elizabeth Carey Smith

Tue, 26 Jan 2021 20:44:13 +0000

“I hope that we can have more frank discussions about the problems of industry inclusiveness and the approach and sense of responsibility around design, specifically in the world of type. With that in mind, I had a candid conversation with Elizabeth Carey Smith, a design director in New York and a past president of the Type Directors Club.” —Agyei Archer

Almost

Tue, 19 Jan 2021 19:26:28 +0000

Aside from being a delightful typeface family, Almost opens the door to the discovery of fifteenth-century printing types.

Lava Devanagari, Kannada, and Telugu

Tue, 19 Jan 2021 19:24:25 +0000

Typotheque collaborated with Indian type designers for Devanagari, Kannada, and Telugu extensions of Lava. Knowing these scripts as natives gave the designers the confidence to stretch and play with the design within the constraints of an editorial brief. In my opinion, this confidence and familiarity are what bring all of the scripts into harmony while keeping them true to their individual nature.

LL Blankenhorn

Tue, 19 Jan 2021 19:20:49 +0000

Whenever I’m in Germany I’m struck by the prevalence of hand-lettered book covers. German publishers also seem particularly unafraid of omitting imagery from their covers, letting the title do all the selling of the book. This works especially well when the title is rendered by expressive lettering, and there are few examples as effective as Fritz Blankenhorn’s for Deutscher Bücherbund. On these covers, the text is the image.

Graphit

Tue, 19 Jan 2021 19:16:48 +0000

Graphit manages to convey a distinct voice by using elements from sources that might appear almost antithetical.

ABC Laica

Tue, 19 Jan 2021 19:16:16 +0000

Laica’s dislocated shapes and sprawling texture walk a fine line between sublimity and grotesqueness, as the world in 2019 also appeared to teeter on the brink of conflicts and crises.

Plastic

Tue, 19 Jan 2021 19:15:49 +0000

The eighties are everywhere. Love them or hate them, over the past several years it has been almost impossible to escape the resurgence of bright neon colors, flashy animal prints, neoliberal ideas, and catchy synth chords. For graphic designer Ivana Palečková and type designer Jitka Janečková, thinking about this decade brings back a very special piece of typographic nostalgia.

ABC Whyte

Tue, 19 Jan 2021 19:12:24 +0000

There is so much to say about ABC Whyte and ABC Whyte Inktrap that a review of these non-identical twins from Dinamo could easily consist of two separate articles. The typefaces offer a clear reference to a milestone in type history and demonstrate an appreciation of past technological considerations through reinterpretation — a reflective practice using contemporary tools.

Lyyra

Tue, 19 Jan 2021 19:10:53 +0000

I’ve never understood why people cut the crusts off of sandwiches. I guess it’s just my aversion to wasting food. I’ll admit, however, the neatness of those unnaturally sharp edges sparks a certain satisfaction. Lyyra’s vertically sliced stroke endings do just that.

The FACIT Model

Tue, 19 Jan 2021 19:09:14 +0000

Archives are ambivalent places. They promise access to endless knowledge and information — but retrieving it, as most type designers know, can be difficult. The FACIT Model opens the gates to a specific archive that has barely been explored until now. It represents meticulous visual research into the ephemera produced between the 1950s and the 1970s by the Swedish typewriter and office machine manufacturer FACIT AB.

Pika Ultra

Tue, 19 Jan 2021 19:08:54 +0000

Several remarkable typefaces were released in 2019, but none of them made me want to roller-skate as much as PSTL’s Pika Ultra, which evokes the rhythm of ’70s bold lettering but avoids the popular trend of bottom-heavy psychedelic fonts. For me, the parallel here lies more in the wavelike cadence of the letterforms and bold silhouettes of words and letter combinations. Caneso has found an incredibly delightful balance between funky and uniform.

Xingkai Next

Tue, 19 Jan 2021 19:07:35 +0000

XingKai Next aims to find a place for a classical calligraphy face in contemporary graphic design. XingKai is a popular calligraphic typeface designed by Ren Zheng in 1980, inspired by the calligraphy works of Wang Xizhi in the fourth century. It has been digitized by numerous foundries and has appeared in all corners of China. While the design is indisputably popular, it is showing its age in various ways, not the least of which is old-fashioned aesthetics. Instead of dismissing it as mere antiquity, the designer Li Zhiqian decided to make a completely new typeface out of it.

PF Marlet

Tue, 19 Jan 2021 19:06:01 +0000

PF Marlet is a type system consisting of five families with distinct voices and purposes. Despite the differences in their design, each family conveys an edgy feeling of elegance in its own way. This creates a cohesive system that is functional but has a strong personality.

CoFo Peshka

Tue, 19 Jan 2021 19:05:53 +0000

What makes my Cyrillic heart beat faster is the role Cyrillic plays in this design. I’m under the impression that the Latin lettershapes of CoFo Peshka follow rules established by the Cyrillic, which is what gives the Latin part of the typeface such a captivating freshness.

BC Orion

Tue, 19 Jan 2021 19:05:51 +0000

It might be tempting to label Maršo’s sans serifs as lesser communist rip-offs of the popular capitalist typefaces Helvetica and Univers (issued just a few years earlier), but that would not be a fair assessment. Where the Swiss modernists shed any remnants of calligraphy, Maršo embraces the artifacts of the written letter for their own graphic expressiveness, and he was not afraid to rotate the pen.

Optique Display

Tue, 19 Jan 2021 19:04:51 +0000

Optique is a font family for Hangeul and Latin that follows the traditional writing tools of each script. The Hangeul stroke shape is based on the pointed brush, while the Latin stroke is based on the broad nib. Even though both scripts allude to different tools, they go well together because they have similar contrast and harmonious shapes.

JJannon

Tue, 19 Jan 2021 19:02:18 +0000

The fonts of Jean Jannon, a.k.a. the would-be Garamond, were underrated by twentieth-century typographers. François Rappo sets the record straight with his crisp JJannon.

29LT Zarid Display

Tue, 19 Jan 2021 19:01:00 +0000

29LT Zarid Display presents surprising twists and turns, and brings new dimensions to the way multilingual display typefaces are designed, which will only benefit designers and readers.

Magnat

Tue, 19 Jan 2021 19:00:48 +0000

The type community in Berlin is expanding more and more, even in these pandemic times. It makes me reflect on how important it is to be where things happen, to inhabit the right place to be inspired, and to observe. In Berlin, René Bieder designed a typeface inspired by a shop sign he discovered while walking the streets of his new neighborhood, in his hometown. With its luxurious and exquisite style, Bieder’s typeface lives up to its name: Magnat.

Oli Grotesk

Mon, 11 Jan 2021 19:27:31 +0000

There are many “types” of English: American English, British English, and, for me, Indian English. The character and personality of Oli seemed to capture the last point. I found it warm, approachable, witty, and expressive, yet having its own distinct character.

Brucker

Thu, 31 Dec 2020 20:28:41 +0000

With Brucker, Tankard once again consciously questions conventions — particularly the idea that a typeface requires consistency. Like watching a performer on a tightrope, or a live improvised show: there are moments where the performance almost falters, and the whole thing seems dangerously close to falling apart, but it somehow doesn’t, and that’s thrilling, and you can’t look away.

Typefesse

Thu, 31 Dec 2020 19:51:13 +0000

Typefesse gives a whole new meaning to type anatomy. Defying logic or reason, each letter manages to squeeze in a contorted foot, leg, and buttock or two while maintaining a surprising level of readability. Given the year the world has endured, we all deserve more moments of collective levity, more silly quips, and more type that kicks some ass.

Broome Sound

Thu, 31 Dec 2020 19:05:54 +0000

Broome Sound, a custom typeface designed by Tré Seals for the third issue of Umber Magazine, intrigues me for several reasons: its important historical reference; its craft; its simple beauty; and, above all, its status as a work of distinct experience — an optical translation of sound.

Roba

Thu, 31 Dec 2020 18:50:06 +0000

At first glance, Roba may appear to be a deco revival display face useful only on rare occasions. And indeed, Franziska Weitgruber has created two subfamilies that echo the geometry- and contrast-loving 1920s. But the families go much further by offering humanist details that help Roba avoid placement within any specific era.

Zangezi Sans

Thu, 31 Dec 2020 16:36:40 +0000

Zangezi Sans doesn’t come across as just another naked sans or neutralized friend of a serif family. Varied stroke weight, fluid counters, and spiky tails give Zangezi Sans a nonbinary vibe. This typeface bridges the serif/sans divide with shapes that borrow from calligraphy and stone carving.

Ribaasu

Thu, 31 Dec 2020 15:40:43 +0000

As a reverse-contrast typeface in Latin, Japanese, and Chinese, Ribaasu is a hall of mirrors, with the scripts looking at one another in mind-bending and positively unexpected ways.

Movement

Thu, 31 Dec 2020 15:36:57 +0000

I have always been fascinated by the various tools used to create letterforms. How an object like a nib, a chisel, or even an imaginary tool can shape glyphs is what I find most interesting in type design. These tools are usually limited by the human body — the hand, in particular. So when I heard that Movement was inspired by a dancer, I was especially intrigued.

Okay

Thu, 31 Dec 2020 13:56:02 +0000

In a marketplace full of puffery, the typeface name “Okay” seems like a declaration of mediocrity, but this may become a new go-to type for when volume and affability need to be high.

Quinn

Thu, 31 Dec 2020 13:46:31 +0000

With type styles and influences as divergent as contrasty Didones, chunky Clarendons and straightforward Transitionals, Quinn is a nicely done portmanteau. It can be used for sedate text as well as shouty yet elegant headlines.

Roslindale Variable Italic

Thu, 31 Dec 2020 12:15:30 +0000

We love RVI because of its high educational value. In its own humble way, this typeface actually teaches its users. With all of the little changes that pile up, the differentiation between slantation and construction, and the precise freedom it allows — RVI makes you look carefully, pay attention to details, and learn a thing or two about italics.

Brando Arabic

Thu, 31 Dec 2020 11:40:04 +0000

Arabic typography has long suffered from stagnation due to the sacralization of calligraphy. Brando Arabic is an innovative contribution to the Arab world, which now produces publications of all sorts and embraces modern requirements of communication.

Söhne

Thu, 31 Dec 2020 10:29:46 +0000

Although I agree with Sowersby’s description — “Söhne is the memory of Akzidenz-Grotesk framed through the reality of Helvetica” — I would argue that Söhne contains more Akzidenz-Grotesk than Helvetica. It’s more unique, less monotonous, more dynamic, less boring. A beautiful yet universal sans serif family.

Antonia

Thu, 31 Dec 2020 10:16:13 +0000

Antonia is a contemporary serif typeface that interlinks a sharp-edged character with cheerfulness. Combining characteristics that don’t seem to be compatible is one of the most difficult arts of type design and was one of the trends I recognized this year. Most often, such attempts result in unconventional display type. Sometimes, though, they add a fresh note to a more serious genre.