Footnotes is a type design periodical published biennially by La Police. The fourth issue opens with an article on Telefont and the last Dutch telephone book along with all the methodology behind it by Martin Majoor. Sourced from the author’s archive (edition February 1996), an original sample was inserted manually by the editor into each copy.
The second essay dives into Ikarus, a digital tool that describes letterforms, studied in-depth at the University of Reading and beyond by Ferdinand P. Ulrich.
Then, from the One-off series – contextual type projects from graphic designers – Joost Grootens tells us about the genesis of the myriad of symbols that makes Ceremony, one book design at a time.
In the fourth and last text, Pierre-Pané Farré explores the material qualities of 19th century stereotyped poster type.
To conclude, the usual last page entitled “Proofs” showcases in-progress typefaces from the contributors: Film, Exécutif Moderne, HB Items, Waggis, and BALI.
As with every issue, each article is typeset with the related typeface(s), some in-progress and unreleased, including Reform-Grotesk FSL, Breite fette Information, LL Unica77, Demos Next, and LP Jung. The rich iconography also tries to pleasantly surprise the reader with unpublished material.
Worth noting, this issue marks the beginning of articles from out-of-print issues being published online under “Stories” on La Police.