Character – Fragments of Beauty https://frammenti.stefanseifert.com Typeface Works and Essays Sun, 08 Sep 2024 07:21:01 +0000 en-US hourly 1 https://wordpress.org/?v=6.4.5 https://frammenti.stefanseifert.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/12/cropped-Homescree_icon-32x32.png Character – Fragments of Beauty https://frammenti.stefanseifert.com 32 32 Between Naturalness, Terribleness and Sweetness https://frammenti.stefanseifert.com/2022/02/between-naturalness-and-sweetness/ https://frammenti.stefanseifert.com/2022/02/between-naturalness-and-sweetness/#respond Tue, 15 Feb 2022 07:38:32 +0000 http://www.seifertfragments.de/?p=3123

Today, next to my morning cup of espresso, is a small opusculum, first printed, it seems, in 1949. It is a small monograph on the Centaur typeface by Bruce Rogers. My friend Chris Wakeling, an excellent English printer, sent it to me. And again, it makes me philosophize about that love of printed letterforms that I still love so much and that has been with me through all my life’s circumstances. It’s such a pleasure to look at these shapes, once so carefully drawn or engraved by hand, or more recently created digitally on a screen. And I still wonder where they came from, what it is that makes them shine so mystically for me. It’s no longer a secret that I draw my Bézier lines inspired by the shapes, curves and lines of the female body. It is something like a game between many factors. In a book about Raffaello, the Italian Renaissance painter, I read about these influences in terms of “Naturalness”, “Terribleness” and “Sweetness” that the artists of those days struggled with, to tend to either one side or the other. And I think it’s always this that shapes our designs. On the one hand, admiration of nature: how it creates “outlines” of forms guided by an inner structure, like the curve of a leaf or, yes, the beautiful sinuous lines of a female body, conditioned in themselves by bone and muscle. On the other hand, there is also a certain will to achieve an ideal form in the sense of geometry. Our eye loves it when things become symmetrical or oval shapes become perfect circles. Because, as often said, it was this striving for perfection that pushed artists to their limits. Bones and muscles, extreme bends and perspective forms were called “Terribleness”; “Sweetness” was the opposite, that is, the willingness to refine the created forms so that they became almost artificial, self-sufficient and praising more the artists than their own origins. And finally, there was “Naturalness”, which can be described as a successful balance between these tendencies. Creating forms that show their original principles, movement, strength and organicity, but without exaggerating. A balance between brutal structure and sweetness.
We wrestle with the structure and pressure with which the pen put its forms on paper, and the will to find in their inner and outer forms something that tends to be geometric, ideal or perfect.
I have always thought that this also applies to the forms of printed letters. When we draw their outlines “artificially”, imitating a calligraphic form once written, we wrestle with the structure and pressure with which the pen put its forms on paper, and the will to find in their inner and outer forms something that tends to be geometric, ideal or perfect. Above you can see some pictures of the process of creating Bézier curves for my font Signer, which is meant for text sizes. For inspiration, I used the beautiful photograph of Marc Lagrange on my desktop background. When I drew the curves of ‘9’, or rather corrected what I found when it was systematically derived from the very thin original shape, I especially liked the connections of the bowls. It reminded me of such shapes as we find in the movement of a shoulder, which lets us see clearly what forces are at work here to bend muscles and incline bones before they form the curves of their surface on the skin. I liked the way the lower part of the hairline enlarges before dipping into the main oval on the right side. But at the same time, almost unconsciously, I became aware of what was happening to the inner shape, the oval enclosed in the eye of the character, the so-called counter. I tried to round it softer, to get it closer to a circle (read also the previous post why). In a word, I was getting dangerously close to the “Sweetness”. The softer and rounder our counterforms become, the more the letter as a whole loses its structure, its stability guided by inner forces. The female body itself is the perfect example of this precarious balance. So when we draw in reality, we are always struggling, once approaching one side and then perhaps returning to the original principle. Yet the human body, at least to me, is the crown of these principles. Because when we create something, we may want it to be similar to ourselves. Credits: Marc Lagrange | Photography ]]>

Today, next to my morning cup of espresso, is a small opusculum, first printed, it seems, in 1949. It is a small monograph on the Centaur typeface by Bruce Rogers. My friend Chris Wakeling, an excellent English printer, sent it to me. And again, it makes me philosophize about that love of printed letterforms that I still love so much and that has been with me through all my life’s circumstances. It’s such a pleasure to look at these shapes, once so carefully drawn or engraved by hand, or more recently created digitally on a screen. And I still wonder where they came from, what it is that makes them shine so mystically for me. It’s no longer a secret that I draw my Bézier lines inspired by the shapes, curves and lines of the female body. It is something like a game between many factors. In a book about Raffaello, the Italian Renaissance painter, I read about these influences in terms of “Naturalness”, “Terribleness” and “Sweetness” that the artists of those days struggled with, to tend to either one side or the other. And I think it’s always this that shapes our designs. On the one hand, admiration of nature: how it creates “outlines” of forms guided by an inner structure, like the curve of a leaf or, yes, the beautiful sinuous lines of a female body, conditioned in themselves by bone and muscle. On the other hand, there is also a certain will to achieve an ideal form in the sense of geometry. Our eye loves it when things become symmetrical or oval shapes become perfect circles. Because, as often said, it was this striving for perfection that pushed artists to their limits. Bones and muscles, extreme bends and perspective forms were called “Terribleness”; “Sweetness” was the opposite, that is, the willingness to refine the created forms so that they became almost artificial, self-sufficient and praising more the artists than their own origins. And finally, there was “Naturalness”, which can be described as a successful balance between these tendencies. Creating forms that show their original principles, movement, strength and organicity, but without exaggerating. A balance between brutal structure and sweetness.
We wrestle with the structure and pressure with which the pen put its forms on paper, and the will to find in their inner and outer forms something that tends to be geometric, ideal or perfect.
I have always thought that this also applies to the forms of printed letters. When we draw their outlines “artificially”, imitating a calligraphic form once written, we wrestle with the structure and pressure with which the pen put its forms on paper, and the will to find in their inner and outer forms something that tends to be geometric, ideal or perfect. Above you can see some pictures of the process of creating Bézier curves for my font Signer, which is meant for text sizes. For inspiration, I used the beautiful photograph of Marc Lagrange on my desktop background. When I drew the curves of ‘9’, or rather corrected what I found when it was systematically derived from the very thin original shape, I especially liked the connections of the bowls. It reminded me of such shapes as we find in the movement of a shoulder, which lets us see clearly what forces are at work here to bend muscles and incline bones before they form the curves of their surface on the skin. I liked the way the lower part of the hairline enlarges before dipping into the main oval on the right side. But at the same time, almost unconsciously, I became aware of what was happening to the inner shape, the oval enclosed in the eye of the character, the so-called counter. I tried to round it softer, to get it closer to a circle (read also the previous post why). In a word, I was getting dangerously close to the “Sweetness”. The softer and rounder our counterforms become, the more the letter as a whole loses its structure, its stability guided by inner forces. The female body itself is the perfect example of this precarious balance. So when we draw in reality, we are always struggling, once approaching one side and then perhaps returning to the original principle. Yet the human body, at least to me, is the crown of these principles. Because when we create something, we may want it to be similar to ourselves. Credits: Marc Lagrange | Photography ]]> https://frammenti.stefanseifert.com/2022/02/between-naturalness-and-sweetness/feed/ 0 That’s why we (perhaps) love circles https://frammenti.stefanseifert.com/2021/12/thats-why-we-perhaps-love-circles/ https://frammenti.stefanseifert.com/2021/12/thats-why-we-perhaps-love-circles/#respond Thu, 30 Dec 2021 10:26:47 +0000 http://www.seifertfragments.de/?p=3109

As promised, I will publish some posts about the ongoing work on Signer Text. However, it is incredibly difficult, if not impossible, to present the work process in a truly didactic way. It is very difficult even for myself to keep track of what I am doing. The process is so very intuitive and must be based on something almost unconscious. Recently I saw a very interesting documentary about an American writer who once claimed that writing is the division into two parts: the work of a drunk, revised by a sober. I have a feeling that this is quite similar in the process of designing typefaces. The drawing process, which interestingly enough usually makes crucial turns and progress during the night, is revised and slightly corrected in the early morning. Consequently, it is difficult to force oneself to jot down, to photograph ideas in this intuitive, unconscious, “drunken” phase. Nevertheless, I will try to reflect some thoughts and influences that push my letter images in a certain direction rather than another. In creating the Signer Text, I’m not quite sure yet what its destination will be, what I want to express character-wise. Certainly there is the eternal inspiration of the Franklin Gothic to achieve something truly elegant, classic, dynamic, but also stable and solid.
There is the eternal inspiration of the Franklin Gothic to achieve something truly elegant, classic, dynamic, but also stable and solid.
While drawing, I noticed that I seem to be following some symmetry ideas that are particularly evident in Signer. In the capital letter ‘S’, for example, I recognized the symmetry, the balance between left and right on the upper inner form under the “ceiling” of the top turn of the lettering toward the top. This seems to give the letter some stability. So I temporarily added a new intermediate curve point that almost perfectly matched the hidden circle, which of course I only had in my imagination while I was drawing. I added the red circle later to make it easier to understand. Again, I strongly believe that these ideas should not be slavishly followed during the working process, because that would prevent us from getting into that intuitive state of mind. Since the Renaissance, the circle has had a strong meaning. It is also a metaphor for stability, harmonious movement, and even something that, on another level of perception, signifies life itself. The beautiful 19-year-old Natalia Vodianova, photographed by Paolo Roversi, might give us a clue. I put her on my desk while drawing, and as many, many years ago, she still inspires me. The rest is pure imagination… Read also [German and Italian language] Credits: Paolo Roversi | Photography Natalia Vodianova | Model ]]>

As promised, I will publish some posts about the ongoing work on Signer Text. However, it is incredibly difficult, if not impossible, to present the work process in a truly didactic way. It is very difficult even for myself to keep track of what I am doing. The process is so very intuitive and must be based on something almost unconscious. Recently I saw a very interesting documentary about an American writer who once claimed that writing is the division into two parts: the work of a drunk, revised by a sober. I have a feeling that this is quite similar in the process of designing typefaces. The drawing process, which interestingly enough usually makes crucial turns and progress during the night, is revised and slightly corrected in the early morning. Consequently, it is difficult to force oneself to jot down, to photograph ideas in this intuitive, unconscious, “drunken” phase. Nevertheless, I will try to reflect some thoughts and influences that push my letter images in a certain direction rather than another. In creating the Signer Text, I’m not quite sure yet what its destination will be, what I want to express character-wise. Certainly there is the eternal inspiration of the Franklin Gothic to achieve something truly elegant, classic, dynamic, but also stable and solid.
There is the eternal inspiration of the Franklin Gothic to achieve something truly elegant, classic, dynamic, but also stable and solid.
While drawing, I noticed that I seem to be following some symmetry ideas that are particularly evident in Signer. In the capital letter ‘S’, for example, I recognized the symmetry, the balance between left and right on the upper inner form under the “ceiling” of the top turn of the lettering toward the top. This seems to give the letter some stability. So I temporarily added a new intermediate curve point that almost perfectly matched the hidden circle, which of course I only had in my imagination while I was drawing. I added the red circle later to make it easier to understand. Again, I strongly believe that these ideas should not be slavishly followed during the working process, because that would prevent us from getting into that intuitive state of mind. Since the Renaissance, the circle has had a strong meaning. It is also a metaphor for stability, harmonious movement, and even something that, on another level of perception, signifies life itself. The beautiful 19-year-old Natalia Vodianova, photographed by Paolo Roversi, might give us a clue. I put her on my desk while drawing, and as many, many years ago, she still inspires me. The rest is pure imagination… Read also [German and Italian language] Credits: Paolo Roversi | Photography Natalia Vodianova | Model ]]> https://frammenti.stefanseifert.com/2021/12/thats-why-we-perhaps-love-circles/feed/ 0 Metamorphosis https://frammenti.stefanseifert.com/2021/12/metamorphosis/ https://frammenti.stefanseifert.com/2021/12/metamorphosis/#respond Mon, 13 Dec 2021 06:49:42 +0000 http://www.seifertfragments.de/?p=3096 Signer textface letters

One of the most difficult tasks any type designer has to deal with, for one reason or another, is deriving different weights for a type family. In my particular world of type design, it's usually a matter of taking my original designs, which are often extremely thin and detailed, and creating a typeface for smaller reading sizes. I’ve always envied the type designers out there in the professional type design world who seem to just use some sophisticated technical systems and programs to do it. That may be, or rather, it is most likely a mistake to think so. For me personally, however, it’s tough stuff. I would go so far as to say that it’s like designing a completely new font – again.
I would go so far as to say that it’s like designing a completely new font – again.
The first difficulty I run into is the large amount of time that has passed, in most cases, between the time I created the first version and the time I decide to go with the text variant. It’s incredibly difficult to dive back into an original idea you may have had years ago. It takes quite a while to understand its specificity, its inner character. Although it may seem from the outside that my designs all have a kind of #handwriting, a similar touch, that’s not the case for me. Even if I start switching from one typeface to another only after I’ve been working on it for a while, when I take a quick look around, say after a week has passed, the older typeface has already become “strange” to me, a kind of foreign body. This is because really every single font has its own personal character, like a child that has grown up under your careful observation. It has its own way of being, reacting, getting into a flow between individual letters, and so on. Axes have a slightly different inclination. All these details, which we hardly notice consciously, adjust instinctively over time. I say unconsciously: at least that’s how I feel. Speaking of details. It’s mostly these that make it a whole new task. We can start with some font program automatism as deriving mechanically weights. First of all, if we want to make a typeface with more weight that is easy to read at smaller sizes, it needs to be larger in rhythm and bolder in stems, but not uniform. I usually give much more weight to the horizontal direction than the vertical. This is because most letters have their hairlines on the horizontal axis. FontLab does this with what are called Actions that you can apply to the whole character. In a second step (which is a bit annoying), you need to fix all the rotten connections between the lines that merge into stems, etc. If you are creating a text face from an existing font, you may also want it to retain some features of the original. You can’t do this 1:1. Some details have to be lost as the stems get bolder and they no longer make sense or would disappear at a smaller scale anyway, others have to be exaggerated for the same reason so they still stand out. It’s funny, but some of the idiosyncrasies of an original character you don't get to know until you try to create a new variation of them. It’s like leaving a person for a while and then returning to them to discover their peculiarities in behavior, their hidden weird little edges that you may not have noticed the first time around, or only noticed at first glance and then forgot to see them after you dived deeper into their personality.
In a word, what we are trying to do when we create a new weight is a kind of metamorphosis in progress.
In a word, what we are trying to do when we create a new weight is a kind of metamorphosis in progress. Partly controlled with the help of the techniques of type programs, partly unconscious, instinctive, as we begin anew to draw lines, curves and details. I’m usually fully aware that this task will take me a very very long time, although admittedly I cheat myself every time by telling myself, come on, it already exists, it can’t be that hard to make a version for smaller sizes! Yeah, if I didn’t do that, I probably wouldn’t even start. Because there’s still a long way to go, a kind of journey that will take us to places we might not expect at the beginning. In the end, it is also we who will be transformed. Both the designer and the creation go through this magical metamorphosis. Above, some of the “new” Signer textface letters in their infancy. I promise to try to go deeper into the details of the working process in the next posts. Credits: Cecil Beaton | Photography ]]> Signer textface letters

One of the most difficult tasks any type designer has to deal with, for one reason or another, is deriving different weights for a type family. In my particular world of type design, it's usually a matter of taking my original designs, which are often extremely thin and detailed, and creating a typeface for smaller reading sizes. I’ve always envied the type designers out there in the professional type design world who seem to just use some sophisticated technical systems and programs to do it. That may be, or rather, it is most likely a mistake to think so. For me personally, however, it’s tough stuff. I would go so far as to say that it’s like designing a completely new font – again.
I would go so far as to say that it’s like designing a completely new font – again.
The first difficulty I run into is the large amount of time that has passed, in most cases, between the time I created the first version and the time I decide to go with the text variant. It’s incredibly difficult to dive back into an original idea you may have had years ago. It takes quite a while to understand its specificity, its inner character. Although it may seem from the outside that my designs all have a kind of #handwriting, a similar touch, that’s not the case for me. Even if I start switching from one typeface to another only after I’ve been working on it for a while, when I take a quick look around, say after a week has passed, the older typeface has already become “strange” to me, a kind of foreign body. This is because really every single font has its own personal character, like a child that has grown up under your careful observation. It has its own way of being, reacting, getting into a flow between individual letters, and so on. Axes have a slightly different inclination. All these details, which we hardly notice consciously, adjust instinctively over time. I say unconsciously: at least that’s how I feel. Speaking of details. It’s mostly these that make it a whole new task. We can start with some font program automatism as deriving mechanically weights. First of all, if we want to make a typeface with more weight that is easy to read at smaller sizes, it needs to be larger in rhythm and bolder in stems, but not uniform. I usually give much more weight to the horizontal direction than the vertical. This is because most letters have their hairlines on the horizontal axis. FontLab does this with what are called Actions that you can apply to the whole character. In a second step (which is a bit annoying), you need to fix all the rotten connections between the lines that merge into stems, etc. If you are creating a text face from an existing font, you may also want it to retain some features of the original. You can’t do this 1:1. Some details have to be lost as the stems get bolder and they no longer make sense or would disappear at a smaller scale anyway, others have to be exaggerated for the same reason so they still stand out. It’s funny, but some of the idiosyncrasies of an original character you don't get to know until you try to create a new variation of them. It’s like leaving a person for a while and then returning to them to discover their peculiarities in behavior, their hidden weird little edges that you may not have noticed the first time around, or only noticed at first glance and then forgot to see them after you dived deeper into their personality.
In a word, what we are trying to do when we create a new weight is a kind of metamorphosis in progress.
In a word, what we are trying to do when we create a new weight is a kind of metamorphosis in progress. Partly controlled with the help of the techniques of type programs, partly unconscious, instinctive, as we begin anew to draw lines, curves and details. I’m usually fully aware that this task will take me a very very long time, although admittedly I cheat myself every time by telling myself, come on, it already exists, it can’t be that hard to make a version for smaller sizes! Yeah, if I didn’t do that, I probably wouldn’t even start. Because there’s still a long way to go, a kind of journey that will take us to places we might not expect at the beginning. In the end, it is also we who will be transformed. Both the designer and the creation go through this magical metamorphosis. Above, some of the “new” Signer textface letters in their infancy. I promise to try to go deeper into the details of the working process in the next posts. Credits: Cecil Beaton | Photography ]]> https://frammenti.stefanseifert.com/2021/12/metamorphosis/feed/ 0 What happens if you get influenced by Spanish type? https://frammenti.stefanseifert.com/2021/04/what-happens-if-you-get-influenced-by-spanish-type/ https://frammenti.stefanseifert.com/2021/04/what-happens-if-you-get-influenced-by-spanish-type/#respond Thu, 22 Apr 2021 09:25:00 +0000 http://www.seifertfragments.de/?p=2982

During my recent researches for the Girl character involved in a Balenciaga lettering it happened that I woke up in the morning for my early espresso coffee studying historical Spanish typefaces. Which we all know have a very special and distinct style. They stand out in the history of the evolution of printed typefaces right from the beginning in the early 15th century. At the same time I was using this beautiful Marc Lagrange photography to inspire myself and compare the forms that I was trying to refine for my Advanced Sans Serif typeface. This girl has this beautiful flower at her ear and I thought: Well, this could be it. It is kind of a “flourish” element that those early (and later) Spanish type-cutters added to their letters. Where others used flat serifs or rectangular stroke endings the Spanish typefaces used to do add little curvy lines, sometimes a little curlycue here and there.
It is about something deeply rooted in their cultural story.
But, it’s not that their typefaces simply are decorative. Because they aren’t and it would be a great injustice to say so. Because this would diminish their effect, the class of their own they have. It is more about something deeply rooted in their cultural story. Recently I also watched old photographs in a book about the early Bazaar years (to see Balenciaga’s style) and there was this photo of a beautiful young bullfighter woman with a hat that almost seemed part of a costume typical for her profession. There were strange looking ribbons folded like leaves on its top, kind of curvy and playful. Because, if we are honest, not one flower would have a straight line in its shapes. All was in tension, yet wounded around its axis. But, just like in this Balenciaga hat which had a strict circle, almost stiffy base form what happens to make those Spanish forms more than merely ornamental is their juxtaposition to at the same time rigorous geometric principles.
They aim for the perfect circle and in this they are more than most of all other typefaces near to early Italian Renaissance spirit.
This is what I also see in Spanish incunabula typography. The tendency to allow those decorative elements but melt them with severe classic constructive principles. To say this more simply: they aim for the perfect circle (within this lies the simple secret of #beauty) and in this they are more than most of all other typefaces near to early Italian Renaissance spirit. There is nothing of Baroque in their forms. Ideas that later on would have done so much harm to the best principles of printing types! So, I worked on with my Advanced typeface numbers. I am already in a phase were I am not willing anymore to do great changes (so tiresome achieved an overall balance) but I almost unconscioulsy (the fact that I am writing about, I guess, proves that not so unconscious) reviewed Bézier details on the stroke endings as here in the ‘3’, added an inclined ending on the upper ‘7’ horizontal and others.
It is quite interesting that the slightly more decorative stroke endings and conjunctions which tend to close the counter forms a little bit more, in this tend to support the mentioned circle ideals instead of doing harm.
Subtly, in that way I enhanced the calligraphic principles, slightly opening the endings (like a flower) and at the same time refined their inner forms a bit to achieve cleaner circles. And it is quite interesting that the slightly more decorative stroke endings and conjunctions which tend to close the counter forms a little bit more, in this tend to support the mentioned circle ideals instead of doing harm. I knew that this inconspicuous play with details would lead me to change many of my letters, seek again for their subtle tension between geometric inner form and calligraphic endings. Nevertheless, I decided to let it happen. Because, in the end, I always had a soft spot for those Spanish typefaces. ¡Olé! Credits: Marc Lagrange | Photography]]>

During my recent researches for the Girl character involved in a Balenciaga lettering it happened that I woke up in the morning for my early espresso coffee studying historical Spanish typefaces. Which we all know have a very special and distinct style. They stand out in the history of the evolution of printed typefaces right from the beginning in the early 15th century. At the same time I was using this beautiful Marc Lagrange photography to inspire myself and compare the forms that I was trying to refine for my Advanced Sans Serif typeface. This girl has this beautiful flower at her ear and I thought: Well, this could be it. It is kind of a “flourish” element that those early (and later) Spanish type-cutters added to their letters. Where others used flat serifs or rectangular stroke endings the Spanish typefaces used to do add little curvy lines, sometimes a little curlycue here and there.
It is about something deeply rooted in their cultural story.
But, it’s not that their typefaces simply are decorative. Because they aren’t and it would be a great injustice to say so. Because this would diminish their effect, the class of their own they have. It is more about something deeply rooted in their cultural story. Recently I also watched old photographs in a book about the early Bazaar years (to see Balenciaga’s style) and there was this photo of a beautiful young bullfighter woman with a hat that almost seemed part of a costume typical for her profession. There were strange looking ribbons folded like leaves on its top, kind of curvy and playful. Because, if we are honest, not one flower would have a straight line in its shapes. All was in tension, yet wounded around its axis. But, just like in this Balenciaga hat which had a strict circle, almost stiffy base form what happens to make those Spanish forms more than merely ornamental is their juxtaposition to at the same time rigorous geometric principles.
They aim for the perfect circle and in this they are more than most of all other typefaces near to early Italian Renaissance spirit.
This is what I also see in Spanish incunabula typography. The tendency to allow those decorative elements but melt them with severe classic constructive principles. To say this more simply: they aim for the perfect circle (within this lies the simple secret of #beauty) and in this they are more than most of all other typefaces near to early Italian Renaissance spirit. There is nothing of Baroque in their forms. Ideas that later on would have done so much harm to the best principles of printing types! So, I worked on with my Advanced typeface numbers. I am already in a phase were I am not willing anymore to do great changes (so tiresome achieved an overall balance) but I almost unconscioulsy (the fact that I am writing about, I guess, proves that not so unconscious) reviewed Bézier details on the stroke endings as here in the ‘3’, added an inclined ending on the upper ‘7’ horizontal and others.
It is quite interesting that the slightly more decorative stroke endings and conjunctions which tend to close the counter forms a little bit more, in this tend to support the mentioned circle ideals instead of doing harm.
Subtly, in that way I enhanced the calligraphic principles, slightly opening the endings (like a flower) and at the same time refined their inner forms a bit to achieve cleaner circles. And it is quite interesting that the slightly more decorative stroke endings and conjunctions which tend to close the counter forms a little bit more, in this tend to support the mentioned circle ideals instead of doing harm. I knew that this inconspicuous play with details would lead me to change many of my letters, seek again for their subtle tension between geometric inner form and calligraphic endings. Nevertheless, I decided to let it happen. Because, in the end, I always had a soft spot for those Spanish typefaces. ¡Olé! Credits: Marc Lagrange | Photography]]> https://frammenti.stefanseifert.com/2021/04/what-happens-if-you-get-influenced-by-spanish-type/feed/ 0 Working on Girl Editor for a Balenciaga lettering https://frammenti.stefanseifert.com/2021/03/working-on-girl-editor-for-a-balenciaga-lettering/ https://frammenti.stefanseifert.com/2021/03/working-on-girl-editor-for-a-balenciaga-lettering/#respond Thu, 18 Mar 2021 11:46:59 +0000 http://www.seifertfragments.de/?p=2951

Recently I have been working on a lettering for Balenciaga. I had been inspired by those experimental looking magazine pages Diana Vreeland did in the late sixties for Vogue. Liberman used those extremely elongated semi-classicist headline typefaces even in italic variants. They look quite strange and somewhat unusual to modern eyes but if we look close they are not bare of fascination. Yes, as the word in itself seems to suppose: fashionable. Excentric. At about the same period the clothes of Spanish fashion designer Cristóbal Balenciaga were “en vogue” and many of the editorial pages speak about him and show his couture dresses that are surely not less daring experimental. A couple that matches. From a type design point of view, however, this is somehow hard of an excercise. The name is extremely long, set in an wide character with thin hairlines and harsh stroke contrast. This intrigued me.
Cristóbal Balenciaga · Tailoring Work
In a certain way the great Spanish couture master acted like a type designer himself. With the utmost scruples taking care of the perfect fit, specially there where tailored forms intersect with the female body.
Cristóbal Balenciaga, Tailoring Work
I decided to re-work on my Girl typeface. Some letters were needed to be adapted in size as I left them in the early 2000 years incompleted. I had some beautiful ‘n’ and ‘m’s with subtle details as broken stems and slightly curved straight lines. The ‘a’ was needed to be re-done. I wanted to keep the experimental spirit using large ellipsis as counter forms, but at the same time I surely am type designer enough to give them what someone may call the forms of a “real letter”. Because it is often that you do quite easily a fascinating graphic form which however lacks the fluidness and organic quality which makes those forms fit together in a line. Which enables them to attach one to another, chains them together. A quality which is hardly explainable but comes from a long experience of looking on historic typefaces and semi-calligraphic forms. These are images from a first stage of Girl Editor (re-)design which show some adapted letter forms and the new lowercase ‘a’. There is still a long way to go… Read also
See on Letters (stefanseifert.com) Credits: Henri Cartier-Bresson | Photography (small)]]>

Recently I have been working on a lettering for Balenciaga. I had been inspired by those experimental looking magazine pages Diana Vreeland did in the late sixties for Vogue. Liberman used those extremely elongated semi-classicist headline typefaces even in italic variants. They look quite strange and somewhat unusual to modern eyes but if we look close they are not bare of fascination. Yes, as the word in itself seems to suppose: fashionable. Excentric. At about the same period the clothes of Spanish fashion designer Cristóbal Balenciaga were “en vogue” and many of the editorial pages speak about him and show his couture dresses that are surely not less daring experimental. A couple that matches. From a type design point of view, however, this is somehow hard of an excercise. The name is extremely long, set in an wide character with thin hairlines and harsh stroke contrast. This intrigued me.
Cristóbal Balenciaga · Tailoring Work
In a certain way the great Spanish couture master acted like a type designer himself. With the utmost scruples taking care of the perfect fit, specially there where tailored forms intersect with the female body.
Cristóbal Balenciaga, Tailoring Work
I decided to re-work on my Girl typeface. Some letters were needed to be adapted in size as I left them in the early 2000 years incompleted. I had some beautiful ‘n’ and ‘m’s with subtle details as broken stems and slightly curved straight lines. The ‘a’ was needed to be re-done. I wanted to keep the experimental spirit using large ellipsis as counter forms, but at the same time I surely am type designer enough to give them what someone may call the forms of a “real letter”. Because it is often that you do quite easily a fascinating graphic form which however lacks the fluidness and organic quality which makes those forms fit together in a line. Which enables them to attach one to another, chains them together. A quality which is hardly explainable but comes from a long experience of looking on historic typefaces and semi-calligraphic forms. These are images from a first stage of Girl Editor (re-)design which show some adapted letter forms and the new lowercase ‘a’. There is still a long way to go… Read also
See on Letters (stefanseifert.com) Credits: Henri Cartier-Bresson | Photography (small)]]> https://frammenti.stefanseifert.com/2021/03/working-on-girl-editor-for-a-balenciaga-lettering/feed/ 0 Typefaces and Photography https://frammenti.stefanseifert.com/2019/12/typefaces-and-photography/ https://frammenti.stefanseifert.com/2019/12/typefaces-and-photography/#respond Sun, 08 Dec 2019 17:23:09 +0000 http://www.seifertfragments.de/?p=2846

This comes a little late. But I guess it is never too late to say thank you to one of the greatest fashion photographers in history who has passed away this year. What you see here is a typeface called Next which was part of my researches for Vogue Italy in the very late nineties just before the switch of the millenium. And it clearly breathes the spirit of those times. As a photographer friend of mine uses to say it is not only that a type designer maybe inspired by photography: it is also photography who can take advantage of typographic work opposed to, or better mixed with it. I am sure in this case I couldn’t hardly add something to the brilliance of Peter Lindbergh. Nevertheless, I am proud that my creations of that period were liked by Italian art director Luca Stoppini and later on have been admired by some influencer magazine art director in Germany, as well. The character itself, apart from clearly aiming at futuristic tendencies of that particular time period, was supposed to also keep some of the fashion like classicist taste which we know to find in Bodoni and Didot. The experimental way of interpreting this fact, though, is that hairlines of Next were introduced in other places, for example in parts of their asymmetric serifs. Certainly, a typeface like this today has less if any importance, but it is just nice to remember some of the inspiration that drove both of us. The type designer and the photographer himself. Thank you for this wonderful inspiration and, in general, for your awesome oeuvre of decades, Mr. Lindbergh! Read also [German and Italian language] Credits: Peter Lindbergh | Photography Vogue Italia | Editor]]>

This comes a little late. But I guess it is never too late to say thank you to one of the greatest fashion photographers in history who has passed away this year. What you see here is a typeface called Next which was part of my researches for Vogue Italy in the very late nineties just before the switch of the millenium. And it clearly breathes the spirit of those times. As a photographer friend of mine uses to say it is not only that a type designer maybe inspired by photography: it is also photography who can take advantage of typographic work opposed to, or better mixed with it. I am sure in this case I couldn’t hardly add something to the brilliance of Peter Lindbergh. Nevertheless, I am proud that my creations of that period were liked by Italian art director Luca Stoppini and later on have been admired by some influencer magazine art director in Germany, as well. The character itself, apart from clearly aiming at futuristic tendencies of that particular time period, was supposed to also keep some of the fashion like classicist taste which we know to find in Bodoni and Didot. The experimental way of interpreting this fact, though, is that hairlines of Next were introduced in other places, for example in parts of their asymmetric serifs. Certainly, a typeface like this today has less if any importance, but it is just nice to remember some of the inspiration that drove both of us. The type designer and the photographer himself. Thank you for this wonderful inspiration and, in general, for your awesome oeuvre of decades, Mr. Lindbergh! Read also [German and Italian language] Credits: Peter Lindbergh | Photography Vogue Italia | Editor]]> https://frammenti.stefanseifert.com/2019/12/typefaces-and-photography/feed/ 0 Ultrafine Ravish Numbers Revisited https://frammenti.stefanseifert.com/2019/12/ultrafine-ravish-numbers-revisited/ https://frammenti.stefanseifert.com/2019/12/ultrafine-ravish-numbers-revisited/#respond Thu, 05 Dec 2019 22:38:31 +0000 http://www.seifertfragments.de/?p=2827

Sometimes it needs a little input to turn back to work on a character we did in the past. I owe this one to a very special person. These ultrafine numbers belong to a typeface which is called Ravish. I did a series of different weights varying also between rhythm and letter widths. It has a slight remembrance of characters such as Helvetica, yet is meant to add some special elegant detail. Most of its letters have unclosed lines. Beautiful Gemma Ward photographed by french photographer Patrick Demarchelier inspired me during the work process. Special difficulties arise on such very fine letters where it comes to form conjunctions as here in the ‘2’. Detailed Bézier curves were introduced to keep the transition between its upper bowl and the diagonal downstroke smoother. Credits: Patrick Demarchelier | Photography]]>

Sometimes it needs a little input to turn back to work on a character we did in the past. I owe this one to a very special person. These ultrafine numbers belong to a typeface which is called Ravish. I did a series of different weights varying also between rhythm and letter widths. It has a slight remembrance of characters such as Helvetica, yet is meant to add some special elegant detail. Most of its letters have unclosed lines. Beautiful Gemma Ward photographed by french photographer Patrick Demarchelier inspired me during the work process. Special difficulties arise on such very fine letters where it comes to form conjunctions as here in the ‘2’. Detailed Bézier curves were introduced to keep the transition between its upper bowl and the diagonal downstroke smoother. Credits: Patrick Demarchelier | Photography]]> https://frammenti.stefanseifert.com/2019/12/ultrafine-ravish-numbers-revisited/feed/ 0 Garamont: My First Letter Drawings https://frammenti.stefanseifert.com/2018/10/my-first-letter-drawings/ https://frammenti.stefanseifert.com/2018/10/my-first-letter-drawings/#respond Tue, 02 Oct 2018 06:54:25 +0000 http://www.seifertfragments.de/?p=2585

Last month you could read about my first love Garamond(t) and since then I wanted this little story to have another sequel. Well, here it is. From the basement of my parents I got some of my very first type design drawings ever: my pencil drawn reinterpretation of Imprimerie Nationale’s wonderful Garamont character* (which in truth go back to drawings of Jean Jannon). First of all I like to thank again Christian Paput who in this long past time was so kind to send me their beautiful hot metal printed type specimen from the 1960’s on which I began to work in the last of my university years. And yes, it took me quite a while just to finish the major part of the lowercase alphabet. Whenever I might have underrated the time a work should be supposed to take me, well, this was the record! From a friend of mine I borrowed an old photographic enlarger to zoom the letters from this printed specimen and my idea was to simply trace the so recovered lines with a pencil, fill them with black in a second step and mount them for the first specimen sheets. The two weeks I wished to take me for that task turned out to be a half year and I couldn’t imagine that even then not more than 2 dozens of letters would have been finished.
I underrated completely what those new lines would need to have to be called in reality outlines of a real typeface!
For I was a complete beginner I underrated completely what those new lines would need to have to be called in reality outlines of a real typeface! Fortunately, I had already some taste to judge my first attempts, so I was able to state that they were of no value, at all. So I rubbed out and redraw, rubbed out and redraw etc. Until after some 2 months or so I got nothing but my first idea of a serious letter. (I don’t remember which one.) I spoke to professors of my faculty but, to be honest, there weren't much of a great help to discover the secrets of a true Roman printing type. But the story came to a happy ending. Though, it was not even close to what I proposed myself to achieve (having a character to work with) it ignited my passion to design typefaces, forever. Read also [German and Italian language] Credits: Guido Löhrer | Photography ]]>

Last month you could read about my first love Garamond(t) and since then I wanted this little story to have another sequel. Well, here it is. From the basement of my parents I got some of my very first type design drawings ever: my pencil drawn reinterpretation of Imprimerie Nationale’s wonderful Garamont character* (which in truth go back to drawings of Jean Jannon). First of all I like to thank again Christian Paput who in this long past time was so kind to send me their beautiful hot metal printed type specimen from the 1960’s on which I began to work in the last of my university years. And yes, it took me quite a while just to finish the major part of the lowercase alphabet. Whenever I might have underrated the time a work should be supposed to take me, well, this was the record! From a friend of mine I borrowed an old photographic enlarger to zoom the letters from this printed specimen and my idea was to simply trace the so recovered lines with a pencil, fill them with black in a second step and mount them for the first specimen sheets. The two weeks I wished to take me for that task turned out to be a half year and I couldn’t imagine that even then not more than 2 dozens of letters would have been finished.
I underrated completely what those new lines would need to have to be called in reality outlines of a real typeface!
For I was a complete beginner I underrated completely what those new lines would need to have to be called in reality outlines of a real typeface! Fortunately, I had already some taste to judge my first attempts, so I was able to state that they were of no value, at all. So I rubbed out and redraw, rubbed out and redraw etc. Until after some 2 months or so I got nothing but my first idea of a serious letter. (I don’t remember which one.) I spoke to professors of my faculty but, to be honest, there weren't much of a great help to discover the secrets of a true Roman printing type. But the story came to a happy ending. Though, it was not even close to what I proposed myself to achieve (having a character to work with) it ignited my passion to design typefaces, forever. Read also [German and Italian language] Credits: Guido Löhrer | Photography ]]> https://frammenti.stefanseifert.com/2018/10/my-first-letter-drawings/feed/ 0 Eclectic Revival https://frammenti.stefanseifert.com/2018/09/eclectic-revival/ https://frammenti.stefanseifert.com/2018/09/eclectic-revival/#respond Fri, 28 Sep 2018 05:48:08 +0000 http://www.seifertfragments.de/?p=2571

Currently among other projects I have been working on the revival of an older Sans Serif font of mine called Eclectic. Here are some numbers of it during the process of adjustment and kerning. Originally it was sketched in a font program named FontStudio. Some time has passed but its fun sometimes to redraw such typefaces and it may take a while to get into the deeper understanding of its character. Those things that make a font unique and worth of an invention.
Those things that make a font unique and worth of an invention.
In this case it is the strange mixture of a rational Sans Serif construction and elliptic organic elements as in the ‘8’, for example. Moreover, it has a special treatment of stroke widths as you may notice on the ‘4’’s ascending left flank which mirrors in a subtle way the asymmetric swelling of curves and bowls. Soon there will be more letters designed and I am curious for myself how it will develop over the time. As our fonts are like children. You may give them cure and teach them our principles but you never know what they for themselves will add to them and one has not so much influence, at all, on the way the grow up, anyway.]]>

Currently among other projects I have been working on the revival of an older Sans Serif font of mine called Eclectic. Here are some numbers of it during the process of adjustment and kerning. Originally it was sketched in a font program named FontStudio. Some time has passed but its fun sometimes to redraw such typefaces and it may take a while to get into the deeper understanding of its character. Those things that make a font unique and worth of an invention.
Those things that make a font unique and worth of an invention.
In this case it is the strange mixture of a rational Sans Serif construction and elliptic organic elements as in the ‘8’, for example. Moreover, it has a special treatment of stroke widths as you may notice on the ‘4’’s ascending left flank which mirrors in a subtle way the asymmetric swelling of curves and bowls. Soon there will be more letters designed and I am curious for myself how it will develop over the time. As our fonts are like children. You may give them cure and teach them our principles but you never know what they for themselves will add to them and one has not so much influence, at all, on the way the grow up, anyway.]]> https://frammenti.stefanseifert.com/2018/09/eclectic-revival/feed/ 0 Working on Trussardi Small Caps https://frammenti.stefanseifert.com/2018/09/working-on-trussardi-lettering-small-caps/ https://frammenti.stefanseifert.com/2018/09/working-on-trussardi-lettering-small-caps/#respond Sun, 23 Sep 2018 07:49:14 +0000 http://www.seifertfragments.de/?p=2557

During my researches for a Trussardi brand lettering I developed a special Small Caps version of Reflection typefaces. Here is the metrics window and beautiful #Natalia as an inspiration fountain in the background. A particular task was to create a unique and special small cap ‘u’ which was hard to balance on the line without serifs. It introduces also a new intermediate stroke width between the thick stems’ weight and the ultra crossed hairlines. Which was necessary as, of course, without the serifs the ultra thin lines would not be able to create enough color on its right wing. Another subtle detail you may note here are the differently angled stroke ends which are slanted slightly towards the outside. It takes up a typical characteristic of Reflection as you may also observe in stroke ends of capital ‘T’ and other letters, as well. If you want to know more about my methods to develop small caps variants of typefaces read also [German language] Credits: Paolo Roversi | Photography]]>

During my researches for a Trussardi brand lettering I developed a special Small Caps version of Reflection typefaces. Here is the metrics window and beautiful #Natalia as an inspiration fountain in the background. A particular task was to create a unique and special small cap ‘u’ which was hard to balance on the line without serifs. It introduces also a new intermediate stroke width between the thick stems’ weight and the ultra crossed hairlines. Which was necessary as, of course, without the serifs the ultra thin lines would not be able to create enough color on its right wing. Another subtle detail you may note here are the differently angled stroke ends which are slanted slightly towards the outside. It takes up a typical characteristic of Reflection as you may also observe in stroke ends of capital ‘T’ and other letters, as well. If you want to know more about my methods to develop small caps variants of typefaces read also [German language] Credits: Paolo Roversi | Photography]]> https://frammenti.stefanseifert.com/2018/09/working-on-trussardi-lettering-small-caps/feed/ 0