Lunenburg Academy is one of Nova Scotia’s most iconic public buildings, a designated National Historic Site overlooking the harbour. In 2018, the former school began a new chapter, becoming home to the Lunenburg Branch of South Shore Public Libraries.

The challenge was to create a welcoming, contemporary public library within a protected heritage structure, honouring its past while meeting modern accessibility and public-use standards.

Fathom Studio (formerly Form:Media and Ekistics) worked closely with library staff, town officials and contractors to shape the new environment. Interior colours and materials were chosen to complement the Academy’s historic character, while standing up to the demands of a busy public space.

The signage and wayfinding system drew inspiration from late nineteenth- and early twentieth-century academic traditions. Referencing felt banners and pennants associated with school pride, the team created sectional markers – adult, children and youth – to identify the book stacks. Brim Narrow was used prominently across these elements, as well as for room numbers applied as cut vinyl to interior transoms. The accompanying condensed gothic is Knockout No. 27.

Interpretive elements celebrating the career of William J. Roué, designer of Bluenose, Lunenburg’s famous fishing schooner, formed an additional narrative layer within the space.

The project was commissioned by the Town of Lunenburg and realized in 2016–2018. The experiential graphic design and interpretive planning (signage) was in the hands of Fathom Studio, with John deWolf serving as project manager and experiential graphic design lead and Robert Currie doing the research. The architecture and interior design was carried out by Ekistics Planning & Design, featuring Chris Crawford (lead architect), Rebecca MacKenzie (project lead / intern architect), and Julian Boudreau (design). Eye Candy Signs fabricated the signs.

Jamie Clarke's design for the book cover of The Scandal of the Century by Lisa Hilton is a homage to 17th-century England and the pioneering writer Aphra Behn. The central element drawn by Jamie is an ornate A, featuring a quill pen as the crossbar, symbolizing Behn’s literary legacy.

The typography, set in Jamie’s Span, complements the historical theme with elegant letterforms. The design reflects the rich visual culture of the period, aiming to capture the drama and historical significance of Behn’s contributions.

Jamie’s sketches for the main A illustration, capturing a variety of 17th Century decorative styles.

Audiobook edition

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Disney’s Beauty and the Beast stage musical was adapted from Walt Disney Pictures’ Academy Award-winning 1991 animated film. The show first opened in 1993 and has since toured the world, from Broadway to the West End.

Ann Hould-Ward won a Tony Award for her design work on the costumes which, together with the set, lean more heavily on the Rococo art movement than the animated film.

In 2021, for the show’s third UK tour, all graphics for the musical were updated. Span was chosen for the underlying structure of the main title lettering, and for the show’s headlines and promotional material.

While Span wasn’t produced with the Rococo style in mind, it was designed to compliment organic forms, graceful curves and floral ornamentation, all features of the Rococo movement.

Disney’s designers embraced Span’s mid-caps weight (sometimes referred to as ‘petite caps’) for its title settings. The height of these uppercase letters is midway between the capitals and lowercase. Though not common, mid caps were included in the font by Jamie Clarke, to provide a wider range of title setting options.

Source: jamieclarketype.com Photo: Jamie Clarke. License: All Rights Reserved.

Designers can choose to set titles in:

— All capitals
— Capitals with mid caps
— Capitals with small caps
— Capitals with lowercase

The updated graphics have so far been used for Beauty and the Beast’s 2021 UK tour, 2022 West End revival, and the 2023 Australia revival tours.

Source: www.instagram.com Disney. License: All Rights Reserved.

Source: www.instagram.com Disney. License: All Rights Reserved.

Source: www.instagram.com Disney. License: All Rights Reserved.

Adjusted typeface with extra swashes and metallic texture

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Span overlaid on top of the lettered title

Source: www.instagram.com Disney. License: All Rights Reserved.

Source: www.instagram.com Disney. License: All Rights Reserved.

Rig Shaded has been used by the BBC for the main titles of their 10-part documentary podcast exploring the extraordinary life of Walt Disney.

The designer combined Rig’s Extrude style in white with the Fine Shaded style in violet. The subtitle is Rig Sans.

Mel Giedroyc voices the podcast, stepping into the magical of the much mythologised genius’s best-loved works.

In 2022 I was excited to see that Mattel had licensed one of my fonts, Brim Combined. I had no idea what it was going to be used for but Mattel have a huge line-up of top brands so I was eager to find out.

I emailed the Senior Project Admin, listed as the company’s contact person. They explained that the project details was still under embargo but that they would be able to reveal how it was to be used later that year.

Several months later my contact revealed that font was used as part of the branding for new line of Barbie Dolls, Barbie Extra Fancy.

The sparkly, foil, logo lock-up on the packaging and promotional graphics features the original Barbie logo first used in 1959, in classic Barbie Pink or Pantone 219c.

The word “FANCY” uses Brim Combined, launched by my foundry Jamie Clarke Type. The word “EXTRA” is set in Mohr Rounded Heavy Italic by Latinotype.

Istria: Recipes and stories from the hidden heart of Italy, Slovenia and Croatia is the third coobook by Australian food writer Paola Bacchia, published by Smith Street Books.

Designer Vanessa Masci picked Span and used it throughout the book for both the titles and body copy. On the cover, Span is used for the main title and subtitle, along with Sheila Bold for the author’s name.

Burna Boy’s fourth studio album artwork features Brim Combined. It won Album of the Year at the 2019 All Africa Music Awards and was nominated for Best World Music Album at the upcoming 62nd Annual Grammy Awards.

Banknotes feature in the artwork and were printed for promotion of the album. Spotify teamed up with Burna Boy to launch “Burna Bank” in New York City.

Album art direction by Sajjad Musa for STOP 1 and Ronami Ogulu. Illustration and graphic design by Joaquín Esteban Jutt.

Rig Shaded 3D typeface used on the cover of Tim Anderson’s Japanese cookbook, Tokyo Stories. Described as a love letter to Japan’s capital city, Tokyo Stories is a journey through the boulevards and backstreets of Tokyo.

Rig Shaded is used in the title “TOKYO” on the cover and for section headings within the book. The styles that were combined in layers are Bold Face, Rig Shaded, and Bold Shading Coarse.

Evi O. picked two very different faces to complete the book cover. Moloch adds character to “STORIES”; compressed and expanded weights of the more neutral GT America seem to be used for top and bottom of cover, and the book spine.

Paperback edition of Histories of Nations: How Their Identities Were Forged by Peter Furtado

The title typeface combines several styles of Brim Narrow for chromatic effect: Fat Lines (blue), Face (black) and Outline (blue). The color of the lines and the subtle outline differentiates it from the flattened Brim Combined.