Our Favorite Fonts of 2004
As the new year began I asked Typographica readers and contributors to share their top picks from the fonts released during 2004. Here are the results in no particular order.
Bello Akiem Helmling, Bas Jacobs, Sami Kortem?ki
Prior to its release, the sign-painterly inkings of Bello existed in the Underware and Typeradio wordmarks. Frankly, I adored the unassuming playfulness of those logos more than what many may deem as healthy. I hoped that a full typeface would be developed capturing that same personality. Bingo. Bello뭩 bouncy-brush style, pushed nearly as far as it can go using the power of OpenType makes this typeface a visual pleasure, full of contextual surprises. The fact that Bello is an obvious typographic partner to Underware뭩 deliciously personable Sauna is an added bonus. ? Grant Hutchinson
Olduvai Randy Jones
After exciting the Typophile crit boards with a couple clever interpretations of past types (Neweue Helpetica and Saint Nicolaus), Randy Jones hit us in early 2004 with a wholly original design, a handlettered roman (drawn at 1 cm.) inspired by archeological digs at the craddle of man. Rugged and warm without being messy, with smallcaps and not-to-be-missed ornaments, Olduvai finds a balance between play and practicality. ? Aaron Sittig
Auto Akiem Helmling, Bas Jacobs, Sami Kortem?ki
The following confessions were found in an unnamed schoolgirl뭩 diary:
- I think I want Auto 3 Italic to be my boyfriend.
- Where in the rule books does it say that counters must be closed? Set them free, Auto 3!
- I dreamt again of Auto, but this time its three brilliant and handsome creators were there. We all snuggled with a giant, furry swash 멇?.
Versa Peter Verheul
I first saw the beginnings of a more organic Versa as a student at The Royal Academy in The Hague. The final version has more rigid forms while still maintaining a fluidity. Versa is aptly named as it뭩 extremely versatile. You can use it in traditional work, like book typography, but it뭩 also an excellent typeface for corporate identities. As a complete family in sans and serif, Versa presents a wide range of options. ? Donald Roos
Whitney Tobias Frere-Jones
Christian Schwartz recounted to me this story as told at a RISD lecture:
The Whitney Museum wanted a nice, quiet sans, sort of humanist, for signage and other identity stuff. Frere-Jones drew what he thought would be appropriate, and it basically turned out to be Frutiger. So he went in and added the angled cuts in all the 뱖rong? places and directions ? exactly opposite of what calligraphy would give you.
I find the result is an original but familiar typeface, ideal for all the applications HFJ suggests: info graphics, wayfinding, cartography, small print. And I can always use another utility sans with index numerals. ? Stephen Coles
GalaxiePolaris chester
GalaxiePolaris has a distinct personality and undeniable charm thanks to its supercurve structure. It fits perfectly in Thirstype뭩 forward-thinking signature collection. ? Yves Peters
Bickham Script Pro Richard Lipton
Richard really is the master when it comes to calligraphic fonts. And from talking to him personally, I only have the slightest idea how much work went into this ? not just on his end, but Adobe뭩 as well. With OpenType becoming much more popular, Bickham is a good choice for one of the top fonts of the year because it really explores how OpenType can be used. Fonts will never be able to mimic to beauty of individual handlettering perfectly, but Bickham comes damn close. ? Dyana Weissman
Avenir Next Adrian Frutiger, Akira Kobayashi
Few typefaces demonstrate foresight and endurance as well Adrian Frutiger뭩 1988 Avenir. With a constructivist frame and a humanist voice, Avenir speaks with an open, contemporary, and visually accessible style that belies the pervasive influence of varying stroke weights, optical adjustments, and knowledgeable decisions contained within. Roughly 16 years after the original, Frutiger and Linotype뭩 Type Director Akira Kobayashi completed Avenir Next, which expands and refines the original. Avenir Next adds true italics and small caps, along with a re-balanced set of 6 weights, in addition to condensed companions for each weight and style. ? Chris Rugen
NeoSans/NeoTech Sebastian Lester
I would be lying if I said I didn뭪 envy Sebastian for creating this beautiful sans. I never met Sebastian Lester, so I can뭪 provide any inside info on NeoSans and NeoTech뭩 development, but I can point out the obvious. It뭩 beautiful, clean, and respectful to the balances of weight and scale, stroke, and proportion. Outside of the great options made available in the design, the subtle stroke modulations and minimalist expression really produces glyphs with personality. The design is unique and Lester pushes it just enough without carrying it too far ? hence alienating it from mainstream use. It is so wonderfully tight and nicely spaced that typesetting is efficient and reliable. This really is a great face. ? Neil Summerour
PTF Costa Jean Fran?ois Porchez
My favourite release of 2004 came as the year drew to a close, and was actually designed back in 1999. Costa, designed by Jean Fran?ois, started life as a corporate family for an Italian cruise ship, but thankfully it has been made available to the public as his first OpenType release. In typical style for JFP, he has produced a family of weights that each have their own distinct character and individuality, yet retain extremely close family ties, so to speak ? a hard task to accomplish, and one achieved with aplomb. From the curvaceous, fat and sexy Extra Bold, through to the almost pen-like Light weight, the release makes excellent use of the OT format to draw on JFP뭩 love of ligatures (ch lig anyone?) to create stunning results from display sizes to small print. Fun, sexy, friendly, and readable, yet as intellectually rigourous as ever, how very very French. ? David John Earls
Costa is one of those typefaces, when used strategically, which can add warmth to an otherwise rigid and cold design. Think of Costa as if it were a nice dark chocolate ? full of flavor, but never to be eaten in large quantities. ? Tiffany Wardle
Klavika Eric Olson
Klavika completely won me over for the squarish technical sans model. It achieves the unthinkable ? lending a generous warmth and openness otherwise sorely missed in these kind of type designs. I believe this to be an important release which could give the competition a serious run for its money. ? Yves Peters
Ed Interlock Ed Benguiat, Ken Barber, Tal Leming
Ed Interlock is part of House Industries? highly anticipated Ed Benguiat font collection. Barber and Leming drew and engineered an amazing typeface. They pushed the limits of OpenType and masterfully combined aesthetics and technology. ? Erik van Blokland
Farnham Christian Schwartz
Christian Schwartz뭩 Farnham just snuck under the wire, coming out late in 2004, and it quickly has become one of my favorite serifs (think of Fleischmann drawn with a really, really sharp pencil). Perhaps more suited to moderate display than long body copy, Farnham is resolutely traditional, a bit complex, and has a distinctive modern edge. It뭩 simultaneously bold and elegant, just right for convincing a worrying client that a serif can have the stuff. Like any great face, Farnham also is a great family, with 25 styles to mix and match for any occassion. ? Tom Dolan
What I like about it is the combination of seemingly disparate elements ? contrasting thicks and thins, vertical and diagonal lines, strong triangular serifs and ball terminals, dramatic swashes -? that gives it such a dynamic feel. ? Ricardo Cordoba
Update, Feb 21 ?Read more about Farnham from John Berry in today뭩 dot-font column.
Amira Cyrus Highsmith
Far too often, sans serif faces that deviate much from a classical structure tend to be redundant and lifeless, have poor legibility, or are overly stylized. Amira is none of these. Beautifully legible on the page and containing a calligraphic vitality that is rarely, if ever, found in a sans. The tapered terminals and subtely angled strokes seem to sing across sentences. ? Christian Palino
FF Absara Xavier Dupr?
To me, this face shows a designer coming into his own, developing and understanding his own style and approach without being restricted by it. It shares qualities with his previous typefaces, but abounds with its own personality. While many of its letterforms are totally bizarre, it strikes a delicate balance between legibility and individuality and manages not to overwhelm itself. I look forward to seeing what this face can do in the hands of an art director brave enough to use it. ? Christian Schwartz
This just in: FF Absara is a winner at TDC2.
FTF Rongel V2 Mario Feliciano
Revised in 2004 and more complete than its first incarnation, Rongel V2, an elegant serif typeface with a full family, remains playful and diverse while attentive to the finer details of a Spanish revival. We see the brightness of the pen in the terminals and much of the lowercase family while the italic, with its curvy finish to the stems, somehow breaks tradition and carries its new flavor back to the numerals and the roman lowercase. The capitals and experts express themselves with resilient proportioning, tightly drawn counters, and solid serifs. This face, with its beautiful restraint, sits brilliantly on the page. ? Christian Palino
FF Legato Evert Bloemsma
Evert Bloemsma뭩 Legato typeface is something truly new, which is extremely rare. Its essential attribute is that the black of the individual letterforms is made equal in importance to the white inside and between the letters. It does this by disposing of the linking between the two edges of the black, something inherent in the conventional forming of shapes derived from a marking tool, such as the broad-nib pen.
By making the black and white harmonize, Legato approaches an ideal of readability, since reading involves the perception of positive/negative space as one thing. Also, it does this while still appearing conventional to the reader ? a key feature in any text face. All this makes it the best typeface of a much longer period than just 2004! ? Hrant Papazian
Honorable Mentions
Other notable releases of the year.
Fresco Fred Smeijers ? OurType has just announced interesting Informal and Script additions to the family.
Akkurat Laurenz Brunner
Andulka Franti쉋k 둻orm
Metron Franti쉋k 둻orm
Didot Elder Fran?ois Rappo
Lexicon Headline Bram de Does
Cycles Sumner Stone
Magma Sumner Stone
Zapfino Extra Pro Hermann Zapf, Akira Kobayashi, Adam Twardoch
Stratum Eric Olson
FindReplace Eric Olson
DTF Hefeweizen David Thometz
Costa Jean Fran?ois Porchez
Borges Alejandro Lo Celso
RePublic Tom?? Brousil
Delicato Stefan Hattenbach
Brea Corey Holms
Ferox Miles Newlyn
Pill Gothic Christian Robertson
Mr Sheppards Alejandro Paul
Cabernet Italic Jason Walcott
Hucklebuck Jason Walcott
Dear Sarah Pro Christian Robertson
FF Max Demi Serif Morten Olsen
FF Hydra Text Silvio Napoleone
FF Bau Italic Christian Schwartz
Fleischmann Gotisch PT Ingo Preuss
FTF Merlo Mario Feliciano
Billhead Tom Kennedy
See also: Fonts of 2004 discussion at Typophile
By Stephen Coles | LINK
