Typographic discoveries

A very different example is the Macklin family, designed by Malou Verlomme.

Verlomme was inspired by the legacy of British type founder Vincent Figgins (1766-1844) and has brought the sensuality of his amazing work into the present day. In four categories (Text, Display, Slab, Sans), a total of 54 fonts in nine weights offer almost endless combination possibilities. The accentuated contours, sharp edges, and finely balanced weights give Macklin a unique elegance that works beautifully in both headlines and body text.

Among my favourite letters are the “7” and the “C” set in Macklin Pro Slab. 

Helvetica was originally released in the 1950s as one of the most popular typefaces. Then, in the mid-1980s, Neue Helvetica came onto the market.

Didn't this already provide all the typefaces needed? Why was this typeface still being intensively studied in the 21st century? The answer is simple: a digital response to the analogue original was needed, and Helvetica Now was born. The typeface now includes more than 400 glyphs (in all weights), as well as matching arrows and numerous alternate glyphs that open up new possibilities for designers. For example, there is an uppercase G or a lowercase u without a drop if design expression is desired, a micro version for small print, and a display version for large print. The letterforms and spacing are designed to look good in print and on screen.

As judges, we were impressed by Monotype's mastery in breathing new life into a well-known typeface personality, and so the typeface was awarded a Red Dot: Best of the Best in 2019. Incidentally, three years later, Monotype received Red Dot for Helvetica Now Variable.

How far can we go? That was the question at Monotype’s TYPO Labs 2018, an industry gathering of typography and technology professionals.

And just how far you can go with type is demonstrated by the typeface Olli Meier created for the event: a sans-serif, variable typeface that can be adapted to all conceivable formats, with the height, width and thickness of the letters adjustable at will – in this case, deliberately to the limits of legibility.

Seamless font technology was still quite new at the time, so it lent itself to the visual identity of the “TYPO Labs”. The result was exciting surfaces, some of which were only recognisable as letters or numbers through fine strokes, and animations in which individual parts of words seemed to struggle for space. Some words looked almost like barcodes, others puffed up like balloons – an exciting experiment that made type a lot of fun.