Part 3 - Types
In Westerns there is talk of leaded air. This refers to the crackling atmosphere when gunslingers have their finger too loose on the trigger of a firearm. However, leaded air was also to be feared in less glamorous contexts. For example, lead typesetting in old-school print shops: the pages for tomorrow’s newspaper were puzzled together with weighty letters, the type. A process that was still in use until the 1980s. At the centre was the rotary press, a monster whose noise level could rival that of the Wacken Open Air.
Today’s processes are characterised by a significantly more relaxed soundscape, and signatures and letters in every content and physical weight class have become much easier to deal with. Not only thanks to electronic signature technology. As a result of extensive digitalisation, letters now flicker on screens almost exclusively in pixelated form, and the typesetting of newspaper pages has long been lead-free. After all, half a millennium has passed since the origins of the personal signature.
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Distinctive types still play the same prominent role in the written and printed word. Take the work of Typejockeys, for example. The Viennese design agency specialises in designing distinctive typefaces for products and corporate identities. “Customised fonts and letters are like signatures,” says company founder Anna Fahrmaier. “As with personal signatures, we create unique corporate fonts whose owner can be clearly identified.” Similar to the human voice, where even small nuances provide information about who it belongs to.
Your company has recently supplied the Austrian Post with an exclusive font. “Proof of authenticity and genuineness has taken on a new quality in the digital age,” says the designer. “Many things are moving faster thanks to the digital transformation, and there are many more competitors for individual business areas than in the analogue world. This always harbours the risk of individuality falling by the wayside.” For expert Fahrmaier, authenticity is therefore more than just a nice cover. “It is an element that ensures trust and credibility in the context of digital transformation!” The feedback from the customer Austrian Post was very positive: They see their own font as a strong element of their own identity – just as unique as a qualified electronic signature.
More information: www.typejockeys.com
