ACT!, the solo recording project of Toronto-based musician and producer David Psutka released the LP Face to Face, Day by Day on Halocline Trance in August 2024.

From Halocline Trance:

With improvisation and happy accidents at its core, Psutka put his faith in oblique occurrences, letting them lead, with no idea where he’d end up. Across calm sea rock, treacle-toned rich vox, liquid guitar, jazzy sax, vintage electronics and modern sonics, the pleasing results are unconventionally coherent.

The cover was designed by Olenka Szymonski and features original artworks from May Truong and Andreas Nicolas Fischer of Studio A N F. The title is set in Ready Clouded, echoing the generative stone-like artifacts of the images, paired with a yet unidentified sans-serif typeface [edit: it’s ABC Normal, see comments] in Regular and Bold for all other info.

Detail from back cover

Detail from back cover

Clear vinyl

The Financial Communications Society (FCS) is a national not-for-profit organization dedicated to improving professional standards in financial marketing communications through a mission of community, education, and philanthropy.

We designed their website to be a fresh face for a longstanding industry presence. The color palette, based on cool tones and vibrant accents, is lively, modern and professional. To reinforce the color palette within the brand’s visual identity, we applied it to the duotone cutout treatment given to photos on the website, most of which are of members at events. Photo content as well as member testimonials number among the details included to reassert the FCS’s human-centric mission. The result is dynamic, stylized, and nods to the organization’s values.

From Bullock Museum’s website:

Hilos de Tradición: Dresses of Mexico is a collaborative exhibition with the Brownsville Historical Association that presents Mexican textiles as living traditions with roots that can be traced back thousands of years to the earliest peoples in Mesoamerica. The tools, patterns, materials, and techniques of crafting these textiles have evolved over the centuries. European influences and modernization have contributed to these changes. But the common thread in all of the textiles is the link they represent between Mexico’s past and present.

Stepping into the Spoiled Parrot is like entering a candy-colored dream, where retro nostalgia meets gilded elegance. We named this confectionery and ice cream spot inside the Tin Building by Jean-Georges after a stanza from a Rumi poem which goes “I am a spoiled parrot who eats only candy. I have no interest in bitter food.”

We designed the identity and packaging to be independent of the Tin Building brand, while nesting comfortably under the same roof. Custom-stamped chocolate bars and luxurious details befit the elegance of the space, while multi-hued geometric shapes represent flavor profiles (and the feathers of a certain parrot who has escaped his golden cage to indulge his sweet tooth).

The feathers subtly mimic the archways of the space’s Deco interior, while IvyMode leans into this era in time, but in a contemporary light. We stretched it to 75% width and in our opinion, it works surprisingly well. Uomo Piccolo has a playful warmth yet utilitarian quality that anchors the typographic system and labeling convention as a whole.

Blue Park Kitchen is a healthy fast casual restaurant located in New York City. Inspired by New York City parks, historic monuments and subway mosaics, Blue Park's rebrand by Hungry Studio aims to bring the inviting nature of Prospect Park to the lunch table.

The typefaces for the menu artwork include modified Worthington Arcade, Arquitecta and Gin. On the menu, information is set in Franklin Gothic and Miller, using Clearface Gothic for headlines.

Label and packaging design for Chilean coffee brand Café Luz. The brand imports its coffee directly from Colombia to Chile, where it’s carefully toasted by hand. This process leads to an outstanding flavor and a properly crafted product. The design was meant to be a colorful expression of Colombian’s coffee beans, flowers, and landscapes. The system consists of one unique packaging plus several labels for each of the different styles of coffee: exotic, decaf and premium.

See more on Behance.

A friend of mine arranged an exhibition of her grandfather’s, Mihály Schéner’s sculptures, toys, and drawings. I designed the posters, flyers and a brochure for the exhibition as well as a promotional present for guests at the opening night, a 3D puzzle based on one of the exhibited toys. The main typeface is Arquitecta, assisted by Menoe Grotesque for body copy.

Tipos Latinos shows the best of typeface design made in Latin America, and it’s the most important biennial in its category. The biennial forms part of the 13 member countries of the network Tipos Latinos, including Ecuador. An identity system was developed and applied in all the visual communication pieces.

The identity was based in a modular system of blocks obtained from the word “TIPOS” — set in Tikal Sans by Miguel Hernández — which combines color, perspective, and patterns. This allowed to create diverse applications for the event with a contemporary and versatile visual language. It was used to promote Tipos Latinos between 2014 and 2015. Exhibitions have been held at Quito, Guayaquil, and Cuenca.

Art direction: Esteban Salgado – Velesi Branding / Grafitat. Graphic Design: Ricardo Cuenca.

Snack indie Svenska LantChips (Swedish Country Crips) have steadly grown since their inception in 1991, now standing as one of the premier brands of potato chips. With a style that is more organic and hearty than the industrialised form press variety, they’ve managed to capture the heart of the people. Mrs. Eaves has been with them in the logotype for quite a while, with the signature brown packaging appearing with either Champion Gothic (regular line) or Neutraface (slightly more advanced line). On the website, the latter is replaced with Arquitecta.

Diablas is the nickname of the Chilean Women’s national field hockey team.

We were commissioned to develop a visual identity for the team, and for this project we worked closely with the type designers Miguel Hernández and Tania Chacana who let us use their font Uomo as the main visual element of the identity.

We made custom adjustments of some of the characters and styles of this font exclusively for this project, developing a playful yet competitive image based on this nickname of the sports team — “diablas” is the feminine noun for “devils”.

The font was used extensively in all of the team’s applications, ranging from digital imagery to the official clothing.

Fonts In Use just turned three. That seems young, but it’s something like a teenager in internet years, right? Regardless, the more significant milestone came in mid-2012 when we launched the Collection, opening the archive to public submissions. Since then, we’ve experienced a growth spurt: the site now documents and discusses* over 3,200 designs using at least one of over 1,700 typeface families from hundreds of foundries. (*I use the present tense because Fonts In Use is a living archive — one in which entries of any age are easily accessible, cross-referenced, and with comment threads that are always open for new insights and discussion.)

Ok, numbers are nice, but what thrills us most about the new platform is what it can do. Over the last few months we improved our typeface pages, adding high-resolution samples, space for biographical information, and links to sources and related typefaces. We gave account holders the ability to create Sets and “Like” Uses. We expanded the Collection pages so they show more Uses and take advantage of wide screens. And we deployed an bunch of other enhancements that are best covered in another post.

We also welcomed new writers to the Blog so we can publish more frequent typographic histories, observations, and critiques.

Today, we celebrate our birthday with a few party favors. Introducing the first of an annual awards show. What follows is the “best of Fonts In Use in 2013”, as dictated by our editorial staff. This list of font uses and users is a glimpse into contemporary type-driven graphic design. We hope it surfaces content from the collection that you may have missed, and sparks you to contribute your own work — or work you admire — to the growing archive.

Uses of the Year

To us, great typography means thoughtful type choices used in skillful or unusual ways. The work below reached the pinnacle of that standard in 2013. The winners include designs from a range of formats, from exhibition and poster design to websites and book covers. They represent designers and studios from around the globe. And they span the gamut of typeface styles, both old and new, from over a dozen different foundries.

Big Plans Exhibition Design
Designed by Jessica Svendsen and Julia Novitch
Using Bureau Grot and Letter Gothic

1941: The Year That Keeps Returning Book Cover
Designed by Rumors
Using Puncho and DTL Fleischmann

Image, Building, Object Film Series Posters
Designed by James Goggin
Using Plak and an unreleased typeface by Laurenz Brunner

The Bling Ring Trailer and Posters
Designed by P+A and Silenzio Communication
Using Dom

Designing News
Designed by Francesco Franchi
Using Domaine, Atlas Grotesk, and Atlas Typewriter

Uses of the Year

Honorable Mentions

Stitching in my own way: The embroideries of Iris Todd

Stalkr Brand and Website

Kunst am Spreeknie Schöneweide Art Festival

2013 Pitchfork Music Festival Announcement

2013 Pitchfork Music Festival

2013 Pitchfork Music Festival App

Gargalo Nº 1, 2, 3, 4

Bambudda

Achtung: Berlin Symposium

Messages by Dillon Francis Music Video and Album Art

Belvedere Square Market Sign

Fritz Müller Sparkling Wines

Users of the Year

These graphic designers and studios produced several pieces that our staff recognized as exceptional typography. For this award we looked at all the Uses in the Collection credited to a designer, not just the work produced in 2013. (When we say “Users” we mean “font users”. The best users of the site are honored in the next section: “Contributors of the Year”.)

Pentagram

NYC Beaches identity

InsideOut SF poster diptych

Rockaway Beach Installations

The Printing House identity

This storied New York-based studio is well represented in our collection not just because they are famous or produce so much newsworthy, visible work, but because they obviously love type. Pentagram makes good use of a wide range of typefaces and they document that work well, writing about their type selection and giving credit to the font makers.

Nina Stössinger

“Zu bürgerlicher Eintracht und Vertraulichkeit”

10 Jahre Sprachenzentrum

kobebeef

Ästhetik des Opfers

Nina Stössinger is a Swiss designer of books and identities who uses a variety of typefaces (many of them very new) from various sources and lucidly articulates her choices on her site and Fonts In Use. We recognize her here not for her 2013 work, but for her rich contributions over the last three years. She can be excused for using less type recently because she’s been quite busy learning more about how to make it: Stössinger is currently a Type and Media graduate student at KABK in The Hague. She writes about that experience too.

Solo

Gargalo Liqueur

Deseo & Psiquiatría

Gargalo Wine

El valor del tiempo perdido

Solo is a Barcelona studio founded in 2011 by Óscar Germade. Their work for a range of luxury brands and editorial publications is characterized by restraint, setting stages in which the type itself is the focal point.

Studio Laucke Siebein

Angewandt Exhibition Materials

KinderKulturMonat (ChildrenCultureMonth)

Poster for Typography Lectures at HBK Saar

Flexa Creations Color Chips

Like Stössinger, this nod to Studio Laucke Siebein is more of a multi-year achievement award. Dirk Laucke (Amsterdam) and Johanna Siebein (Berlin) give new life to unusual and forgotten typefaces in their decidedly modern work.

Users of the Year

Honorable Mentions

Thomas Alberty, New York Magazine

Arem Duplessis, The New York Times Magazine

The New York Times Digital

TGG Hafen Senn Stieger

Robb Rice

Richard Turley, Bloomberg Businessweek

Contributors of the Year

Since we opened the site to public submissions in mid-2012, these Fonts In Use visitors contributed the most interesting and discussion-provoking Uses to the Collection. Not only did they upload good images of great work, but bonus points were awarded for adding insight, commentary, or critique.

Chris Purcell

After over 30 years as a designer and lettering artist at Hallmark Cards, Chris Purcell retired in 2012. Their loss is our gain: Chris has been a voracious contributor to Fonts In Use since then, adding over 40 Uses to the Collection. His submissions are broad ranging, covering many different industries, formats, and periods. The examples are sometimes from his own collection or documented with his own photography. And many of them are more than a simple image upload: they include his commentary, which often generates further discussion.

Mille Bornes Card Game (1960 Edition)

13-inch Lucite® ruler (1970s)

Smithsonian Magazine Table of Contents (1989 & 2013)

Maurice Meilleur

Along with some of his own fine work, Maurice Meilleur has contributed several pieces by other designers. Maurice is an MFA student in graphic design at the University of Illinois, and his literate, academic approach is very welcome among our ranks. We’re grateful for Maurice’s extra effort in spotting interesting work, writing a useful description, and producing good imagery, either from his own photos or images generated from PDFs.

University of Illinois

Isotype: Design & Contexts

De:Bug Magazin

Patch Hofweber

Patch Hofweber is a American ex-pat living in Malmö, Sweden. His contributions number over 20 to date, and focus on web and identity design, two areas of his own multidisciplinary expertise. He sometimes supplements his submissions with a bit of typographic critique, an attribute that served him well as one of our rare guest writers on the Fonts In Use Blog.

Julius: The Cards

Örnbergsauktionen 2013

A List Apart 5.0

Contributors of the Year

Honorable Mentions

Mine Creek

Robin Rendle

Michael Bojkowski

Contributors of the Year

Font Foundries & Providers

Letters from Sweden

TypeTogether

Rosetta

FontFont

bb-bureau (Benoît Bodhuin)

Editions 205

Sudtipos

Font Bureau

Webtype

Contributions of the Year

This is a placeholder for a future award, meant for those non-staff contributions that are exceptional in their visual documentation, critical analysis, and/or historical research. To get that ball rolling for 2014, here are a few Uses that were popular or controversial from last year:

Volksbühne Berlin Poster Campaign

The Other Times Modern

Cheers Logo and Opening Titles

Myspace 2013 Rebrand

Hessian

The Third Man Movie Poster

The Great Gatsby Film Promotion

2013 Tesla Model S Dashboard Display

Yahoo! Logo (2013)

Fonts In Frequent Use

In addition to the typefaces represented by our featured Uses and Users of the Year (most of which are shown in the main sidebar at the top of the page), the font families shown at right appeared most frequently in 2013 designs posted to Fonts In Use. This list only represents work in our Collection, so these certainly aren’t the most prevalent typefaces in all design today — that would be overlooking system/app bundled fonts, Core Web fonts, freebies, other perennially popular typefaces like Gotham, Interstate, and Neutraface, and revivals of classics like Caslon and Garamond. Yet they do reflect part of the current design zeitgeist: all sans serifs, most (except Alright Sans) are firmly in the static Gothic, Grotesque, or Geometric models. An odd outlier is ITC Serif Gothic. Nick Sherman has discovered that Lubalin and Di Spigna’s 1972 design is seeing a curious revival.

Early Users

Our observant co-editor Florian also noted these early adopters of typefaces newly released in 2013 or late 2012: Macula for Colin Smith, Audree for AwardsLine, Berlingske for A-Magasinet, Line for Rodeo, Domaine for Designing News, Magasin for Elle Decoration, MVB Solitaire for Assembly, FF Quixo for Publishing Design syllabus, FF Mark for Bench, Baton for L’Histoire du Diable, FF Dora for Gewone Letters, Landmark for Parc Olympique, Vinter for Queensland Ballet, and LL Circular for a number of uses.

What did we miss? With over 2,000 Uses added to the site in 2013, there is surely more typography worth honoring. What were your favorite font uses of 2013? Link ’em up in the comments below. And if your favorite design is not already in the Collection, now is the time to contribute. Your participation is vital to this endeavor.

KinderKulturMonat is a Berlin-based initiative that organizes a monthlong cultural program for children. The project is a spin-off of the Dutch Oktobermaand Kindermaand. Studio Laucke Siebein created a corporate design featuring watercolor illustration and a “vernacular handmade typeface” by Miguel Hernández. As Mija is a little too fickle to work well in longer blocks of text, the more prosaic AG Book comes to the rescue. Mija is also used as a webfont on kinderkulturmonat.de.

Base writes:

“The Government of the Brussels Capital Region (Région de Bruxelles-Capitale/Brussels Hoofdstedelijk Gewest) approved the new brand and logo ‘be.brussels’ for the Brussels Capital Region. The new brand was developed by Base Design. It is composed of the new top-level domain .brussels that will be attributed to the Brussels Region at the beginning of 2013, and is preceded by the prefix ‘be’. The new ‘be.brussels’ brand serves both as a call to action and a reference to Brussels’ status as the capital of Belgium (‘BE’) and Europe.