[type design]
MF Böhm
Revival of the typeface found in a 1720 book from the Estienne Library.
Thought to be a bookface for today's use. Taking the shapes and the feeling of the 18th century, rooted in contemporary fashion.
In some space it is just a typeface, in some other it is more a reflection / a symbol on how beautiful life can be.
As beautiful in its coincidences as in its misunderstandings. Beautiful in the spiritual depths of what we take for granted, or commonplace. To go out to try to see beauty in what is already around us. It is the affirmation of life everywhere, from the moment we agree to see it, and to reactivate it.
This work is dedicated to anyone who feels grateful to life, for whatever reason.
[type design]
MF Böhm Mono
A study of rhythm in space, of tension in time, of expression despite repetition, of balance within constraints.
[type design]
VTC JuJu [unreleased]
VTC JuJu is an upcoming typeface project made for and with Vocal Type. With the help of Tré Seals and Michele Patanè, I conceived this project as a tribute to an era in the history of jazz, between 1965 and 1980, during which certain musicians, groups and labels rethought the role of the jazz artist in direct relation to the Black Arts Movement, and the thinking of Amiri Baraka (LeRoi Jones). As jazz became even more closely aligned to both the civil rights movement and the rise of black power, the music being created and the way that many jazz musicians chose to live their lives became inseparable – a powerful reflection of the African-American ideals of these times. Jazz was on a continual forward path, constantly redefining, re-evaluating, breaking barriers and setting new parameters. They were redefining music and its spiritual, philosophical, community purpose by the creation of musicians' associations, independent labels giving musicians total creative freedom and copyright, and an emancipation from musical dogmatic aesthetic canons based on Western values (harmony, rhythm, specific instruments, etc.).
The typeface pays tribute to the band "Oneness of Juju", an important actor of this movement.
Hopefully coming soon on Vocal Type. Thank you, once again, Tré and Michele for your trust on this super meaningful project!
[type design]
Ransans
Ransans is the typeface interpretation of the most important person in my life. It is a gift, and the process is a piece of art I'm making for her.
Inspired by french grotesks faces from the 1970's (Antique Olive, Galfra, Colorado, Pascal…), with my contemporary approach and feeling towards it, to bring back a breathe of fresh air to this font style often forgotten.
[code / script]
BIGPROOFER
BIGPROOFER is a proofing tool made in Python for Drawbot. It displays the different styles of a typeface at different scales, allowing the designer to analyse them in all of the different contexts: glyphset, long/medium/short texts, the punctuation, and the different diacritics with a page dedicated to each language covered by the font. It also displays the different styles on top of each other to compare more directly the different masters. Thanks to Hugo Jourdan for his precious help.
[calligraphy / improvisation]
Scriptural improvisations
In a will of knowing myself better, I mixed my jazz & calligraphy knowledge to do those "scriptural improvs".
Switching tools, & energies, a beginning, with no end already planned. I let myself be driven by how things went in the moment, seeing and being in full consciousness of where / what I was going / doing
[book design / code]
Dumb Type monograph
Dumb Type
is an artist collective based in Kyoto, Japan founded in 1984. Their work focus on the relationship between human beings and new technology.To honour their artistic approach, I wanted to test my relationship with the machine. To do so, I built this book only in Python, only using Drawbot (A big thanks to M. RĂ©guer for his drawBotGrid and his precious personnal help on this project).
Furthermore, they insist to work with no hierarchy, and unpredictiveness, so my grid is used in a unique way for each image/text on a new page.
[type design / logo]
dsaa dt
A page was turned in the history of our beloved group when @e162.eu became @dsaadt.
That's why we had to rethink the logo that represented us. I coordinated the collective creation of a logo based on a typeface by Robert Estienne (the 16th century printer whose family name gave the school its name).
Our intention was to be part of a dual lineage, that of the school (through the choice of the source typeface), but also that of our predecessors (@e162.eu) through the use of italics. All of this is part of an active approach that reinvests the past in contemporary tastes, rather than passive conservative contemplation.
The shapes in the back, used here to signify the freedom and unpredictiveness of what can happen in this class, is made by @juliette.rn
[type design / merch design]
Sexy Disco
JOSÉPHA for the merch of my Sexy Disco typeface, shot by my sister from another mother @romanehuber.
This piece of work is a scream of love towards life, and towards the woman I share my life with. I could go on & on for hours talking about how she keeps changing my life every minute I spend with her, but I wouldn't have enough word in a lifetime to say what I properly think. Thank you for everything, absolutely everything.
By wearing this shirt, you help spread my loving message around you. You become messengers of love on Earth. What nobler crusade could there be?
If you took the time to read those lines, we share something, a positive emotion, & this work is partly dedicated to you. Thank you. Grateful towards Pablo Tshirt Factory for the printing, and @laurynroch for the marvellous lover doberman.
[graphic design]
PDT poster
This years theme was "model(s)", and my take on it was to bring in some jazz. Jazz is about understanding a model (a song, a chord progression, a structure…), and to make it personnal in such a way that you are able to create your on matter on the spot: by improvising. All the stakes about how to interact with our models are in jazz. So I did some "jazzy scriptural impovisations", offering my take on how my letters models comes out when I'm improvising.
How did I digest my models, and how am I able to make them mine ?
[type design]
Memento vivere
Roman letters, a traditional @e162.eu exercise. Between historical canon and contemporary adaptation, with a personal approach of Nietzschean philosophy, here comes Memento Vivere. 450 glyphs in 5 static weights, Thin, Light, Standard, Semi-Bold and Bold; plus a variable font version. European standard + decorative ligatures.
[calligraphy]
Scales & compositions
Calligraphy is a central practice in the typographic teaching at Estienne School. It enables, not only the work of the hand, but also the understanding, through gesture, of the history of writing, and consequently of typography; as well as the rhythm of the text.
My practice alternates between regular practice, comparable to the scales one does when practicing a musical instrument; and freer and more expressive compositions.
My favorite scritps are Roman letters, italic, humanistic, and a bit of copperplate. And from time to time, since I am a huge jazz fan, I like to do some improvisation, getting rid of any script model or grid, and letting the magic happen.