Arp
RELEASED BY:
W Type Foundry ☞
DESIGNERS:
Felipe Sanzana
RELEASE DATE:
Week 21
DETAILS:
• A neo-grotesk type system exploring the relations between contrast, functionality, and graphic character
• Available as a family of 5 weights across two distinct display styles for a total of 10 fonts, plus two variable font options.
LINKS:
Competitive Set:
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From the Foundry:
“Arp is a neo-grotesk type system exploring the relations between contrast, functionality, and graphic character in one family. This typography comes in 5 different weights including fine strokes with inverted contrast, a sharp sans serif, and a high contrast heavyweight. Moreover, its design is formed by short ascenders and descenders aiming higher legibility, ink traps for display-functional purposes, and includes a wide range of icons, arrows, and symbols which allow creating consistent compositions in digital and print designs.
All styles of 640 characters include a display weight with geometric and glyphic style alternates, which expand the proprieties and versatility of the system.”
FOUNDRY SPECIMENS:
NOTES:
Arp is a wacky and wonderful look at what’s possible in type design. I can’t say I’m personally a fan of this style of type (you can’t love everything, right?) but there are so many things to appreciate about it. Namely, the strange contrast, the wide letterforms, the sporadic corners, the bulbous ink-traps, the sharp cuts, and the diamonds in the display. All of these features and details are handled well from a design stand point, and result in a type family with a truly contemporary flavor, and a lock on the corner of the type market devoted to new and experimental web designs.
I’m not sure what the major difference is between Arp and Arp Display besides a few subtle aesthetic changes, but that doesn’t really matter here. The most important takeaway from this release is that W Foundry is capitalizing on a font expression that’s in-demand, and catered Arp to it with style and edge. That’s not an easy thing to do! I think Arp is a genuinely unique design, not having that many historical or modern precedents. I expect to see it out there in the world in a matter of weeks, repping the newest brands and upstart digital companies that want to make a splash.