According to Paris-based designer Julien Janiszewski, his ambition for Loft was to create a type family “based on a strict hierarchy. I wanted to provide graphic designers with a font suite that would enable them to create systematic solutions.” For the design itself, Janiszewski was inspired by wooden type developed during the late 1800s. He was also influenced by the signage reading ‘DÉFENSE D'AFFICHER’ (‘Post No Bills’) that is often found in France.

Loft is a large family of seven weights, each with an italic partner. Strikingly, counter widths for all the weights remain the same. As weights increase from Hairline to Mammoth, the characters extend by building stroke thickness outside the counter.

More structural interest comes from the way Janiszewski has handled the stroke terminations. In characters like the e, s, and c, they are cut on the same horizontal plane, while the termination of the vertical strokes and the over-dots of the i and j have been clipped at an angle. Loft is space-efficient in lighter weights while making an increasingly stronger statement as the designs become heavier. Taken as a whole, the Loft typeface family is distinctive, versatile, and always intriguing.