“First drawn in 1995 by Jonas Williamsson as a series of single
illustrations in Aldus FreeHand, as part of a client-commissioned
graphic identity project.
Later produced as a minimal, upper-case only headline font using
Fontographer, it eventually slotted into the visual toolbox of
Swedish-Swiss Design/Art/Poetry collective REALA (1999–2007), which
consisted of Williamsson, Samuel Nyholm and Laurent Benner. In
1999, Lineto published BIFF on its first website.
The letterforms were inspired by early New York graffiti and
succeeding styles, commonly known as Throw-Ups. Derived from the
Swedish adjective ‘biffig’ (meaning ‘muscle-bound, beefy, chunky’),
the font’s name evidently referenced its formal characteristics,
but also evoked TIFF, one of the aliases Jonas used as a writer
back in the 1990s.” [Lineto]
Redrawn More…
“First drawn in 1995 by Jonas Williamsson as a series of single illustrations in Aldus FreeHand, as part of a client-commissioned graphic identity project.
Later produced as a minimal, upper-case only headline font using Fontographer, it eventually slotted into the visual toolbox of Swedish-Swiss Design/Art/Poetry collective REALA (1999–2007), which consisted of Williamsson, Samuel Nyholm and Laurent Benner. In 1999, Lineto published BIFF on its first website.
The letterforms were inspired by early New York graffiti and succeeding styles, commonly known as Throw-Ups. Derived from the Swedish adjective ‘biffig’ (meaning ‘muscle-bound, beefy, chunky’), the font’s name evidently referenced its formal characteristics, but also evoked TIFF, one of the aliases Jonas used as a writer back in the 1990s.” [Lineto]
Redrawn and expanded by Anatole Couteau, adding new styles, an Outline version in collaboration with Williamsson, and an Astral style that pays homage to Michel Jarland’s Astral (Mecanorma, 1970s). This updated version was released in Oct. 2022.
