ITC Django

Australian designer and art director Wayne Thompson has loved typography “ever since I received a battered second-hand Letraset catalog at the age of 10.” He based ITC Django on the handwriting of an acquaintance - “a fellow I know who writes and illustrates children's books and is also a commercial artist” - who called himself Django, after the jazz guitarist Django Rinehart. “I felt that that name Django suited the funky, lively feel of the face,” says Thompson. But he adds, “Django has a split personality: it appears loose and easy at first, but after looking at it for some time I felt an edginess come through that was slightly psychotic.” The looseness of the lowercase contrasts with the spikiness of the capitals. The “edginess” is especially apparent in words in all caps.