In 2021, Atelier bora-bord together with Denis Carrier were commissioned by the Université Grenoble Alpes (UGA) to design a signage system for their art collection. From their website (translated):

There are 70 works of art on this campus, commissioned over several decades as part of the “1% for art” initiative. They are mostly located outdoors (sculptures, installations, paintings), with a few inside (in the lobbies of certain departments). The brief was to design durable plaques to be integrated into pre-installed concrete bases. We proposed using enamelled lava stone—a material typically used for orientation tables and known for its exceptional weather resistance. The content is arranged using a strict grid system, allowing all necessary information about the artworks to be included within compact formats. The text is set in a deep violet color, a nod to traditional school ink, symbolizing writing and knowledge.

I lent a friend an early release of my own font Atwin, which is a digital interpretation of Franco Grignani’s Gemini Computer. Sometime later, and to my surprise, I received this gift in the post.

It is a white enamel mug decorated with the phrase “Greetings Earthlings!” with black text typeset in Atwin. The letters are cut out with a CNC vinyl cutter and stuck onto the mug. The cutter has introduced its own minor deviations from the glyph outlines, for example the counter in R has a small step in its outline made by the cutter that isn't present in the digital design. Weeding vinyl cut letters and transferring them onto an object can be a little bit tricky sometimes, and we can (just about) see that the crossbar on the first G is a little bit wonky.

The designer tells me that the cutter software ignored the kerning in the font file, so the unkerned type had to be adjusted by hand. Good job!

It is a source of great joy to receive things made with your own type.

It’s not possible to get the whole phrase in one shot, here we can see the right/hand part

This retro-style enamel keychain was designed by Kansas City-based So So Studio, run by artist Marie Jones who pays homage to all things vintage. Typeset in Lone Pine by Hoodzpah.

In 1996 the Autonomous Parisian Transportation Administration (RATP) adopted the custom typeface Parisine. The development of the typeface family was part of the general effort – with Yo Kaminagai as a head of design – to unify the sign system of the Parisian metro, bus and regional express network which until then made use of different typefaces. An initial choice to rely on Neue Helvetica created disarray due to the font’s variations and difficulties to include longer station names (e.g. “Iéna Champs-Élysées – Clemenceau”, as opposed to “Iéna”).

Consequently, French type designer Jean François Porchez was commissioned to create a typeface that would be more “economical” in width. As described by Porchez in his Gazette, Parisine was:

designed from Helvetica Bold, condensed at 90%. Parisine is intentionally more open to counteract the reduction of the areas of the counters due to condensing. Its forms are softer and more round, horizontal parts are slightly heavier, optically, to compensate for the verticality accentuated by the slight narrowness of Parisine.

In August 2020 the Paris In collective raised awareness that the emblematic typography is threatened by the introduction of a different system used by Île-de-France Mobilités, the entity controlling the different transport companies of the Paris region. Their explicatory video warns of the beginning of what may be an increasing “contamination” of the standards.

[Editor’s note: Parisine was introduced in RATP’s communications in a decentralized way, and the family grew with needs and applications; see comments.]

Overview of the M4 metro line. Station names are set on an angle.

Diagram of the metro, RER, bus, and tramway lines.

Trilingual tourist map (2017) with info in French, English, and Spanish, designed by Be Dandy using Parisine’s narrow and compressed widths.

Strasbourg Saint-Denis station, July 2019.

July 16, 2018. One day after France won the Russia 2018 World Cup final football match, six metro stations were temporarily renamed. the Saint-Paul station was changed into Saint-Paul Pogba, and the Champs-Élysees station honoured the coach of the French football team, Didier Deschamps.

Sign post outside Pompadour station, 2019.

April 2020. Entry of the Plaisance Hôpital Saint-Joseph station, showing both Parisine and the famous art nouveau Paris metro signs.

RATP website, using Parisine and the same color scheme as used for the RATP signage.

Saint-Paul station fridge magnet, from the RATP merchandise shop.

Visual identity for Zaunkönig Appartements in Baden-Baden using Almost Roman as main typeface. The capital N is taken from Almost Gothic, and the O from the Almost initials series, illustrating the bird’s nest (a “Zaunkönig” is a bird wren). “Appartements” is typeset in DTL Fleischmann Italic, the smalll texts are in Bureau Grot.

The illustrations are taken from anonymous 19th-century engravings. The enamel plate was produced by Mikolajczak in Grudziądz. Find more information on the Zaunkönig website.

In early 2019, a new law firm opened its doors in the middle of the historic Carlsplatz in Düsseldorf: Carlswerk Attorneys. Here, you won’t find cookie-cutter solutions made by dull pencil pushers. Instead, they offer their clients authentic personalities who are convinced that daring to share individuality combined with a no-nonsense approach to the law ultimately pays off. In close cooperation with the attorneys we developed a charismatic brand identity using a fine mix of subtle historical references and an inviting world of colors, bringing a breath of fresh air to the industry. The progressive typography pairs GT Sectra with Sharp Grotesk.

More about this project can found on the g31 website.

Unie van ijsbereiders en cafetariahouders (Association of ice-cream producers and cafeteria owners)

The name of the association seems to be a combination of three elements: ‘ijs’ (ice cream), ‘fri’ (from patates frites = French fries) and ‘ca’ (from cafetaria). In publications from the 1960s and 70s, the name of the association (and of an identically named trade fair) is given with reference to these three lines of business.

Enamel sign designed by Shamrock (Jeroen Klaver) for Amsterdam-based tax consultant Max (TaxMax – “In Max We Trust”). The lettering is modeled after the Crayonette typeface which was originally issued by the Keystone Foundry in 1889.

FranklinTill is a global design futures agency. For their new identity, Commission was inspired by FranklinTill's core area of expertise: colour and material.

Paired with GT America, this flexible identity system allows for different combinations of colour and material to be used for each member of the FranklinTill team.

FranklinTill’s new branding coincides with the launch of a new website, rebuilt to reflect the remit of their activity in consultancy services and editorial communications, and to share its research insights. Featuring on the upper right of each page, the FranklinTill colour block is coded to automatically change its palette as the user navigates around the site, informed by the colour proportions of the main image on each page.

Enamel signs from the collection of Jean-François Danquin are displayed all over ESAD Amiens.

The condensed blackletter for “Allgemeine Rundschau” is closely modeled after Rudolf Koch’s Deutsche Anzeigenschrift (1923). The smaller lines may have been drawn — less directly — after Lucian Bernhard’s Bernhard-Fraktur (1912).

Jaune de Chrome is a French manufacture from Limoges, recognised worldwide for its absolute mastery of French fine porcelain and the enamel art.

“She’s looking forward to your visit during the Enamel Advertising Week”

In combination, the featured typefaces and the prices in Reichsmark suggest a date between 1931 and 1948. Label by Karl Lamm, seller of kitchenware and household appliances in Langensteinbach (Baden).

2×1-inch enamel pin by Starseed Supply Co. As Julie Ann Horvath said, “Casual reminder that sensitivity is a superpower and not a weakness”.

In Germany, public buildings like this local court are marked with the coat of arms of the respective federal state, in this case Baden-Württemberg. The enamel nameplate below interestingly uses Stahl from 1939. The building houses the court since 1986.