FF Fontesque
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You need JavaScript enabled and the latest version of Flash Player to see this type sample.Credits
- Classification
- Ornamented, Novelty
- Original Format
- Digital
- Distributor(s)
- FontShop
- Tags
- hand-drawn, hand-lettered,
Background
FF Fontesque was intended to be very loose, with extreme proportions, but still beautifully drawn. The font is based on several concurrent design principles, including animation. The idea that the characters are alive, moving, and can’t stand still is expressed globally in the irregularity of size, varying angles of the “uprights”, and non-adherence to the baseline.
Although the font evokes the Fifties for some, designer Nick Shinn notes that that’s a cultural false memory. In reality, the Fifties saw a move away from hand lettering artists and their casual serif styles, and a move into bolder, more straightforward styles like Century, Bodoni, Futura and Times.
Shinn explains that he was actually inspired by faces with extreme contrasts of proportion like Garamond and calligraphers like Fred Goudy who believed that type shouldn’t be too perfect.
[From an interview with Nick Shinn on fontfont.com]
Memories