Aitos
by Kevin Simpson
Kevin Simpson was five years old when the stylized “E” of the Electrolux vacuum cleaner logo caught his eye. This is his earliest recollection of an interest that ultimately became an obsession. Type remains his major preoccupation, and he admits to attempting to work a good typeface design into any project where he can get away with it.
Aitos was inspired by a metal sculpture Simpson saw while driving through the French countryside. “The statue was very strong. It was heavily weathered and had obviously been there for some time, yet it also seemed very delicate and light.” Aitos, like the statue, is a rugged design. At first glance, it is chunky and bold, perhaps a little jarring. If you look again, however, you’ll see it has refined qualities. Aitos commands attention – yet is still affable.
Angle
by Leslie Cabarga
The Angle family grew out of Leslie Cabarga’s fascination with pre-war German graphics, especially their boldness and angularity. According to Cabarga, “Angle was created in the German manner with a broad, flat-nib pen.” The result is a heavy, purposeful design with strong Blackletter overtones.
The design’s strong horizontal stress is particularly interesting because in most Blackletter faces, the stress is vertical. This anomaly not only helps to set the design apart, but also seems to aid its readability.
While there may be a lot of Blackletter in Angle, the design also calls to mind Art Deco poster lettering. Think of it as Kabel with a heavier German accent.
Haarlem
by Leslie Cabarga
Some time ago, Leslie Cabarga was asked to illustrate a comic book story that takes place in 1920s Harlem. The lettering he created to accompany the illustrations was the beginning of the Haarlem typeface.
The design has an obvious hand-lettered feel without the freeform variations of calligraphic scripts. Haarlem has an underlying structure that gives the design a solid, no-nonsense demeanor.
“In sketching Haarlem, I used a chisel-point marker to create the unusual flared terminals.” This feature, combined with dramatically contrasting wide and narrow letter widths, makes Haarlem a design that won’t get lost in a crowd.