Footnotes, issue B
Footnotes is a type design periodical published yearly by La Police. The second issue opens with the 2nd part of an article by Brigitte Schuster about The Haas Typefoundry Ltd. initiated in issue A. Following this link with the first issue, issue B includes contributions by Optimo, François Rappo, Christian Mengelt, Adrien Vasquez, Frank Grießhammer, Alice Savoie, Dorine Sauzet & Sébastien Morlighem.
In order for the reader to discover the typeface(s) presented in each contribution, every essay is typeset with the related typeface(s). Some are unreleased, here’s their detailed list in order of appearance:
LP Jung is a still-in-progress typeface by La Police.
Detroit was available at Optimo between 1998 and 2000 in MM format.
Swiss Gothic is an unreleased revival of Gerstner/Mengelt’s Programm by François Rappo.
Antique is a private version of Helvetica by François Rappo.
Theinhardt Mono is an in-progress variation of the Theinhardt family by François Rappo to be released by Optimo.
AA Files Display Initials are a mix of styles drawn by Adrien Vasquez for the layout of the AA Files magazine.
Detail from page 57: “Sans Plomb” by Optimo, set in Detroit.
Detail from page 62: “The 2002 Typographic Agenda” by François Rappo, featuring Antique, Theinhardt, Plain, Apax, Theinhardt Mono, and Swiss Gothic.
Detail from page 68: “Typeface Redesign” by Christian Mengelt, pairing Mengelt Basel Antiqua (body text) with Sinova (captions).
Detail from page 71: “A Note on the AA Files Display Initials” by Adrien Vasquez, set in Arnhem Fine and Arnhem.
Detail from page 77: “Cogitating Vectors: The Hershey Fonts” by Frank Grießhammer, featuring Minotaur Beef, Minotaur Sans, and Minotaur.
Detail from page 85: “Everyday type” by Alice Savoie, Dorine Sauzet & Sébastien Morlighem, set in Minuscule 6.
3 Comments on “Footnotes, issue B”
Thank you for the preview, Mathieu! It’s great to have a recorded use of Detroit, a groundbreaking font that is otherwise lost to type history.
I remember Detroit getting a lot of buzz at the time of its release because it was one of the few Multiple Master fonts not from Adobe and it had such an unusual axis (straight to curved). Here’s a sample of three instances: the two poles and one right in the middle.
Optimo (who considered it more of an experiment than a product) has no mention of it on their current website, and I have tried many times to dig up the Flash specimen from their old website to no avail. Unfortunately, Internet Archive didn’t snag it.
Thanks for the comments, Stephen! Indeed Detroit should be featured back on the website in some way. We still have some amazing works by the late P. Scott Makela using Detroit – like American Photography 1996 or WHEREISHERE! In the meantime I am happy to provide you the flash specimen.