Calligrafans
Born Of the 20th Century Pen
Typography and Calligraphy have always had an interesting relationship — born of the same parents, diviners of language, etc. — but somewhere along the way, type and calligraphy became estranged. Type designers rejected calligraphic ideals for modern and digital ideologies. But recently, growing slowly at the edges of the type spotlight, has been a rekindling of the type & calligraphy relationship. This bubble features a few designs that have been diving head first into calligraphy as a typographic model or celebrating calligraphy as a source material rife for rediscovery. Whether they’re based on the work of one calligrapher, or aim to channel the calligraphic spirit once again, these types are the modern Calligrafans.
Frauen
Details:
Foundry: Sharp Type
Designed by: Lucas Sharp, Wei Huang
Release Date: 2015
Family: 1 weight, 2 total fonts — Roman & Script
Price: $50 for each font, $75 for the pair.
From the foundry:
"Frauen is our ode to German calligraphy. The script style is based on some lettering found on the cover of an almanac of Berlin debutantes published in 1945 titled, Die schönsten Frauen der Welt: The Most Beautiful Women in the World."
Ogg
Details:
Foundry: Sharp Type
Designed by: Lucas Sharp, Connor Davenport, Wei Huang, and Greg Gazdowicz
Release Date: 2019
Family: 5 weights of roman and italic fonts
Price: $50 per font, $350 for the family
from the foundry:
"Inspired by the hand lettering of 20th century book designer and calligrapher Oscar Ogg, Ogg captures the unique mix of calligraphic and typographic form he achieved through his use of hand carved pen nibs, brushes, and white-out."
Salter
Details:
Foundry: Sharp Type
Designed by: Lucas Sharp, My-Lan Thuong, Wei Huang, and Marc Rouault
Release Date: 2021
Family: 2 fonts, roman and italic
Price: $50 for each font, $75 for the pair.
From the foundry:
"Salter is the latest in a series of explorations of 20th century book jacket calligraphy by designer Lucas Sharp. The typeface is inspired by various designs attributed to Oscar Ogg and George Salter, two prolific masters of this period."
Margo
Details:
Foundry: Hex Projects, available on Future Fonts
Designed by: Nick Sherman
Release Date: October 29, 2019
Family: 2 fonts, a roman and italic
Price: $36 for the in-progress family
From the foundry:
"MARGO is a typeface inspired by classic hand-lettered movie titles and book jackets from the 1940s and ’50s. Many of its distinctive features follow lettering from films art directed by Lyle R. Wheeler, including All About Eve, The Gunfighter, The Secret of Convict Lake, and dozens more. 20th-century paperback books and packaging also informed the design, but the overall style is reined in, comparatively, to function better as a typeface (as opposed to hand-lettering)."
Boogy Poster White
Details:
Foundry: Bureau Brut
Designed by: Bureau Brut & Julien Priez
Release Date: 2020
Family: 9 fonts in the larger Boogy Brut family
Price: €72 per font, €144 for the two Poster White fonts,
From the foundry:
"Julien Priez, aka Boogy Paper, is a calligrapher and type designer, and a member of the “High On Type” collective. His work is heavily indebted to designers such as Oscar Ogg or Berthold Wolpe, who similarly envisioned calligraphy and lettering not necessarily as ends in themselves but as key steps within an overall creative process. This approach has informed parts of the design of Boogy Brut, which is a true contemporary digital typographic family and not merely a typeface influenced by calligraphy."
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