Fanfaretti #1, “Localism”

Fanfaretti magazine #1 is published by Fanfaretti, a design studio based in Amsterdam.

Fanfaretti is an independent timeless magazine about all things creative. It highlights craftsmanship, aesthetics, and a positive outlook on life. It is grounded in printed matter, with an interest in lifelong explorations of everything beautiful.

The first issue highlights artists, designers, and crafts(wo)men who work and live in Amsterdam, alongside a variety of European photographers and writers who address the theme of localism in their own context.

The Fanfaretti Headline font has been specifically developed by Jolana Sýkorová of JS Type. It is used in every text that relates to Amsterdam or the Netherlands, both for this and upcoming issue. In the magazine, she explains the thought and story behind it:

Initially, I planned to create a font by digitizing one of the many lettering designs found on Amsterdam buildings. However, I got tired of it quickly as it’s something that’s been done many times. I continued to search for something more related to localism and the form of a magazine itself when I arrived at the Wendingen magazine. Between the years of 1918 and 1933, there was a local magazine published in Amsterdam about art and architecture called Wendingen. It became an important platform to present artists and architects associated with the Amsterdam school movement. Contrary to its architectural focus, Wendingen showcased a playful design including lively lettering. These playful letterforms served as the starting point to the Fanfaretti Headline typeface. The idea was to keep “a bit” of that Amsterdam school feel but bring it to 2024. The result is a geometric, uppercase-only font with an irregular contrast and spirited design.

Other fonts used are Sweet Sans for chapter marking, and as the inherent font of Fanfaretti (so, when we are posing a question as Fanfaretti magazine, we always use Sweet Sans). The choice to use it fell because of its heritage of antique engraver’s lettering templates, being embedded in the crafts of letter making. Simultaneously, it works excellently in any digital form. Its versatility, timelessness and heritage goes well with both the studio and the magazine.

The Joly family (used for headlines not related to Amsterdam, and for answers) is inspired by the Dutch heritage, and nicely contrasts with Sweet Sans. To quote from Blaze Type’s description:

Joly takes its inspiration is the 18th century Dutch type. It began as a research revival project, as one does when exploring type design history, and rapidly turned into a full contemporary type design project.

You can get a copy of Fanfaretti online or at the local Athenaeum in Amsterdam, at PaperCut in Stockholm, at Magculture in London, and at Maison Flore in Paris.

Full list of contributors/features: Beatrice Olimpia Bonato, Jolana Sýkorová, Emmanuelle Oddo, Colette der Kinderen, Florent Tanet, Nienke Sikkema, Studio Wild, Rae Blooms, Lingua Planta/Merle Bergers, Sensitive Boy Pottery, Clemente Vergara, Silvia Leitmannova.
Editing by Laura Josephine O’Brien. Design by Angela Blumen.

The next issue is coming out in March 2025 with the theme “Details.”