Brandacadabra

Trailers for New Type

Movie trailers are passé. Now typeface trailers come into fashion—see the promo for Heroine, a new release from Fountain Type Foundry.

Heroine is inspired by the typeface Windsor, designed by Eleisha Pechey in 1905. Windsor is the typeface used in the titles of many Woody Allen films. A modern interpretation of this rusty pearl is something that is something that has always been missing in the major type libraries. But Heroine is not only an interpretation, it goes beyond that. With the addition of swashes and alternate letters in several styles it becomes very addictive.

It’s like a breeze of Art Noveau with modern bezier skills, old and new celebrated in a typeface family with 9 styles. The weights are handpicked with small steps between them to bring out the best of Heroine. True to history, condensed versions are also included in the family.

The Hypnotic Typeface

While I’m still convinced that Apple’s I’m a Mac/I’m a PC ads are simply better, I really like the crazy idea from Microsoft’s latest promo ‘trailer’ for Office 2010. Having a new typeface that would mesmerize everyone from office workers to politicians is an absurd but nevertheless cool twist. Enjoy!

Word of God

I’ve had a sweet tooth for typography for a long time, and a sweeter one for non-digital type. Unfortunately, this is an endangered species—so you can imagine my thrill whenever I come across anything like it.

My most recent discovery is ecclesiastical type, the one in Eastern orthodox churches. I love the flourishes and the departure from the standard Cyrillic letterforms in these samples below, taken at Hadâmbu Monastery, near Iași, built rather recently.

Ecclesiastical type at Hadâmbu monastery, near Iași. Notice the awkwardness of the ‘F’ and the curious ‘TI’ combination at the end of last word—most likely the personal contribution of the artist.

Type found at St. Lazarus Church in Iași.

Great piece of inspiration for a logotype. All you need is a proper Eastern European heritage brand.