UNIVERSITY PROJECT
WHAT WAS THE BRIEF?
Create a set of single-sided, A5 typographic postcards for the following typefaces: Didot, Helvetica, Rockwell, Caslon and Snell Roundhand. Each postcard must capture a significant aspect of the typeface.
WHAT WAS MY SOLUTION?
My postcard designs are based on the theme of ‘REVIVAL’. Through research, I discovered that all five typefaces have either been updated/’revived’ later in their history, or they are themselves a revival/emulation of a previous typeface. Type designer Matthew Carter has stated that successful revivals of typefaces are those “derived from historic models, but designed to function in the contemporary climate that they sit in”. This quote drove my conceptualisation of the postcard designs. In each, an aspect of the typeface’s history is communicated through an element of contemporary media - its past is ‘revived’ in the context of the present.
The Didot postcard takes the form of a Vogue magazine cover - a nod to its extensive use within fashion publications. All of the taglines and copy detail aspects of Didot’s history, but I phrased them so that they take on Vogue’s tone of voice. For example, “Hoefler’s guide to fix a thinning hairline” refers to Jonathan Hoefler’s revival of Didot, in which he increased the stroke weight at smaller point sizes to solve the readability issue of Didot’s hairline strokes.
I designed Helvetica’s postcard as an airline boarding pass, firstly to reflect its long-term use in the branding of Lufthansa and American Airlines, but then as a clever way to document Helvetica’s name change; like an airline takes you from one destination to another, this typeface changed its name from Neue Haas Grotesk to Helvetica. I also observed further parallels between typefaces and boarding passes that allowed me to inject humour into my design, such as both having a ‘classification’ and ‘terminals’.
Due to its geometric letterforms, Rockwell was likened to the sans serif typefaces emerging around the same time as it was released (namely, Franklin Gothic and Futura). As such, Rockwell was labelled a “sans serif typeface with added serifs”. I designed the postcard as a billboard ad piece to jokingly ‘expose’ this deception, mocking Rockwell as trying to pass for a sans serif typeface.
I styled Caslon’s postcard as a movie poster to reflect its influence within typeface design, using quotes from notable designers who have commented on Caslon to construct a critical review of the typeface - as though it were a movie. The movie poster format served as a great way to express Caslon’s legacy through a contemporary media outlet.
For Snell Roundhand, the postcard is an invitation for a christening, as the script typeface is used frequently for formal invitations. I specifically chose a christening because they celebrate the birth of a child - in this case, it is the ‘brainchild’ of Charles Snell and Matthew Carter, the combination of their work that produced the Snell Roundhand typeface.
