Say hi to Higher Order Interpolation. Since the introduction of variable fonts in 2016, interpolation became increasingly important. During the TYPO Labs 2018 conference in Berlin we briefly reevaluated the current interpolation technique and demonstrated another way of interpolation typefaces. Until today interpolation in type design has been linear, but this limitation should belong to the past. In case you are interested in the technical side of making (variable) fonts, read the case study: Higher Order Interpolation for Variable Fonts. The basic principles of more advanced interpolation in variable fonts, explained without the complicated math.

Ladies and gentlemen, may we introduce Font Fiction, tomorrow’s fonts designed today. Visitors of the TYPO Labs 2018 conference in Berlin received a – pretty future-proof – printed copy of this manifesto. The rest of the world can read it online at fontfiction.com.

Our typeworkshop website may still be in coma at the moment, the workshops themselves have always continued and are alive as never before. Last year we gave 5 typeworkshops, from Baltimore and Detroit in the USA, to Wrocław in Poland, and São Paulo & Rio de Janeiro in Brazil. This week our first typeworkshop-stop of 2018 is at Sint Lucas in Ghent, also known as the Berlin of the Belgian type scene. We hope to make some new people enthusiastic about letters. It’s gonna be Now or never on the 5th and 6th of February.

Warning: this movie is longer than 15 seconds. Even longer than two minutes. And there is a good reason for this. Developing fonts is a tedious task, at least in our case. To give a certain clue of time: making Duos, our latest font release, took two more years than we originally planned. In case you are interested to see and hear what’s involved in making the font family Duos, just watch this presentation that Akiem and Bas held at ATypI Montreal. Thirty minutes of slow TV for a fast font.

Prefer reading instead of watching? Only want to spend a few minutes instead of half an hour? Those people who are interested in ambiguous shapes, monolinear design problems, writing speeds or coding, will also enjoy reading the story behind Duos.

We’re happy to introduce Duos, a script for illusionists.

This small family of handwritten display fonts contains enough variation & imperfections to create a natural and casual appearance for texts. The light weights can be deployed when class and elegance is required. The black weights are more mutually divergent: rough brush strokes will bring across a different mood than delicate rounded strokes for example. Duos brings you a new typographic palette.

In Duos letters break apart, strokes are suddenly being cut, they crisscross, overlap, get loose. These strokes definitely enjoy their freedom. These oddities are intentional: handwriting ain’t perfect either. Nevertheless, the overall rhythm and carefully crafted connections keep this handwriting together. Every letter has many alternates, so every word can have dozens or hundreds of different appearances. Use the one you like the most, or just use the one which Duos thinks looks best. Fancy! As a final flourish, Duos let’s you play with ambiguous lettershapes, just like real handwriting.

Duos is a small family of 10 eye-catching display fonts (4 styles, 3 weights) plus a bonus font which includes tools, icons, strokes and banners. The four different styles, caused by using different writing tools, offer distinct typographic voices. But whatever style of Duos you pick: apply this speedy monolinear handwriting font in large sizes, because it is made for catching the attention. Apply it short & big.

➽ Duos
Try | PDF | Buy

Tomorrow we’ll present and be present at Brekend beeld in Utrecht, the Netherlands. Nine inspiring thinkers and makers share their views on the current state of journalistic design. Brekend beeld promises to be an evening full of zeal, discussion and calls for action for the audience.

Participants are NRC, ACED, Grrr, Underware, PersgroepUX, de Correspondent, Cyanne van den Houten and Ted Struwer.

Date: 18 Januari 2018; 19:30 – 22:00
Location: Kapitaal, Utrecht, the Netherlands
Free entrance

Because it takes 2 to tango, we’ll have 2 presentations in our upcoming trip to Brazil, in 2 different cities, and 2 workshops to complete the fun.

08 December
Workshop Variable Wonder No.1 at DiaTipo São Paulo, São Paulo, Brazil.

09 December
Lecture Duos Carnival at DiaTipo São Paulo, São Paulo, Brazil.

11 December
Workshop Variable Wonder No.2 at Miami Ad School, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.

11 December
Lecture Duos Carnival at Miami Ad School, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.

For an expanded notion of type, we’ve got two presentations in Germany this week:

23 November 2017; 14:00 o’clock
Lecture AENOT L at Exquisite Complexity, a seminar by Baruch Gottlieb at the UDK Berlin, Berlin, Germany. (Hardenbergerstr. 33, Room 110)

24 November 2017, 14:00 o’clock
Lecture AENOT S at Design-Zoom – Let’s talk about artificial intelligence!, HAWK Hildesheim, Germany. #DZ17

Catch us the coming weeks in Germany and Poland. Next week we’ll be at HAW Hamburg (10 Oct), and the next day we’ll be the Hochschule in Wismar (11 Oct). At the end of the month we’ll do a workshop at Eugeniusz Geppert Academy of Art and Design in Wrocław in Poland (30 Oct). Our evening lecture will also be the end of the Wrocław Type Forum (30 Oct, 11:00 – 19:00), one day jam-packed with type. Join us if you’re around.

In two days, the 27th of Sept, we’ll read from a newspaper at Type Amsterdam. Other speakers include Rob Saunders (Letterform Archive), Liza Enebeis (Studio Dumbar), Janno Hahn, Pieter Boels (Antwerp Type Society) & Aleksandra Samulenkova, and hopefully Gerard Unger will also be present. Six short presentations about typography and type design in a compact afternoon. As this events always sells out quickly, tickets cannot be acquired anymore. But do sign up for their mailing list in case you don’t want to miss out on the next Type Amsterdam.