Cartographies by Louis De Belle

Posted on by Julia Kahl

Nine selected book projects from the first Slanted × Kickstarter Mentoring & Publishing Program are live and ready to be funded. We are happy to present you the individual projects in the upcoming week and hope you’ll support one, two, or all of them. 😉

The publication Cartographies is a a conceptual street photography book by Louis De Belle, lauded as one of the most innovative street photographers working today. This large format artist book shows photographs depicting close-up crops on pedestrian clothing, shot in the streets of New York.

Louis De Belle is a photographer, born in Milan, who graduated from the Bauhaus University of Weimar. His works have been published by the The Washington Post, The Independent, and WIRED among others.

We asked Louis a few questions about his project:

Your project was selected from nearly 100 submissions to be part of the Slanted × Kickstarter mentoring & publishing program. What did you learn, what helped you the most?
I’ve never used crowdfunding before and was eager to learn more about it. It was incredibly helpful to have the Kickstarter team giving me hints and insights, especially for the video which—I confess—I was shy about. Also being under the wing of Slanted was very important to get feedback and feel comfortable with the whole project.

How did this project come about?
The photographs from Cartographies were shot years ago in New York. One day I receive an email from Joel Meyerowitz, asking if he could include the series in an upcoming reissue of a historical book of his. I was flattered. Actually, I thought it was a spam email! But that was true and from then on, the series has been exhibited and published widely. Many people asked if there was a book and eventually, after many test, I decided to team up with graphic designer Claire Huss to turn the whole thing into a book.

What fascinates you about the way clothing behaves on bodies?
I’ve always been drawn to the idea of plasticity. To be more specific: drapery. Think of when you study at school all the great sculptors from Michelangelo to Brancusi. We learn to appreciate the depiction of folds of cloth but we often limit that to sculpture or painting. I wanted to bring this into photography and, even more, into daily life. That’s why I took the photographs in the streets, without asking the passers-by to pose or rearranging anything.

Why should our readers support your project? How do you hope to continue with it?
We’ve been working on this book for many years, pondering the format, the layout, the sequencing and selecting very special and precious papers. After many drafts, we’ve got to a point where we felt we reached what we were looking for. So, anyone who likes this project, can play now a fundamental role in making this book possible. Every pledge is rewarded with something valuable, from a signed copy up until an original framed and editioned print. Previously published books went sold out pretty fast. So if you do have some feeling for this one, now is the time!

Thanks a lot for the insides and we keep our fingers crossed that your project will be financed!

Leafy House Plants by Benjamin Wurster

Posted on by Julia Kahl

Nine selected book projects from the first Slanted × Kickstarter Mentoring & Publishing Program are live and ready to be funded. We are happy to present you the individual projects in the upcoming week and hope you’ll support one, two, or all of them. 😉

In 1899, the German botanist Udo Dammer wrote down his knowledge of the ins and outs of different house plants and published the book Zimmerblattpflanzen with 46 detailed plant illustrations. With Leafy House Plants, communication designer Benjamin Wurster created a modern new edition of this botanical encyclopaedia.

Benjamin is a communication designer, based in the South of Germany. He is working for various clients in the fields of culture, education and economy. Since 2017 Benjamin has been increasingly dealing with the topic of inspiration and has implemented several personal projects in addition to the client work he does.

We asked Benjamin a a few questions about his project:

Your project was selected from nearly 100 submissions to be part of the Slanted × Kickstarter mentoring & publishing program. What did you learn, what helped you the most?
I had already thought of launching a Kickstarter campaign for some time. So I was already familiar with the system and had read a lot about successful crowdfunding. However, Slanted was a great help to me in revising my production and cost planning so that I can later implement all components of the project at the highest level.

How did this project come about?
A few months ago, I started looking for materials that I could use as visual templates for limited edition lino prints. I had noticed the trend of more and bigger foliage plants in homes for quite some time. So I came across the publication Zimmerblattpflanzen by Udo Dammer with its 46 detailed plant illustrations. While working with this book, my desire for a reissue of the entire encyclopedia became bigger and bigger.

Why do you think there is a need for a re-edition of the publications of Udo Dammer?
Nowadays we can find all information about any topic on the internet and everyone can share the experiences they have made. But especially in these times, it’s often much more inspiring to get your information from old books that have already served many people before us.
I am very impressed by how much Prof. Udo Dammer already knew about the cultivation of house plants 120 years ago and how much of it is still up to date today. For this reason, I would like to publish one of his publications in English for the first time.

Why should our readers support your project? How do you hope to continue with it?
So that as many people as possible can benefit from this 120-year-old knowledge about indoor foliage plants and, therefore, can be more inspired in their homes. I hope that I can realize Leafy House Plants soon, and I am planning more free works in the future with these beautiful plant illustrations.

Thanks a lot for the insides and we keep our fingers crossed that your project will be financed!

Kommune Family is growing

Posted on by verena7

The Kommune family is inspired by the vernacular shop- and promotion letterings of Burkina Faso. Originally Verena Gerlach designed it as a stencil (uppercase only) typeface for the solo show and accompanying catalogue of Burkina Faso born Architect Francis Kéré (famous for his Laongo Opera Village and communal school buildings) at the Architekturmuseum der TUM, Pinakothek der Moderne in Munich.

Additional to its’ already continued and at Laïc: Type Foundry released Display and Stencil versions it is now also available in a new version containing upper and lowercase letters in eight weights. Kommune is a reverse-contrast typeface. In its’ lighter weights it combines elegant hairlines with by Brutalism inspired round corners and heavy horizontals.

Another special variant of Kommune is Kommune Inline. It combines the two extreme weights of Kommune within just one. It is inspired by fancy patterns and groovy shapes of the 1970s, only designed and available as a special treat to celebrate the second birthday of Laïc: Type Foundry.

Kommune Family

Foundry: Laïc: Type Foundry
Designer: Verena Gerlach
Release date: May 9th, 2020
Weights: Basic (8 weights), Display & Stencil (capitals only—providing two styles, 4 weights each)
Prices: Single style: € 30.–, family of 8 styles: € 170.–
You can get the test version via email
Buy

Support Independent Type by Marian Misiak

Posted on by Laura Nadvornik

Nine selected book projects from the first Slanted × Kickstarter Mentoring & Publishing Program are live and ready to be funded. We are happy to present you the individual projects in the upcoming week and hope you’ll support one, two, or all of them. 😉

Support Independent Type is a book by Polish creator Marian Misiak AKA Threedotstype about the new culture of type specimens, their impact on design and typographic culture at large. It’s a manifesto for independent type foundries showcasing their work in an effort to promote freshly designed fonts, and why we should support them. An exhibit of over 400 of today’s most adventurous typography labels and designers!

Threedotstype is a type foundry based in Wrocław, Poland offering fonts with storytelling extra. It is founded by Marian Misiak who is interested in experimental and cross-cultural type design. Besides long-term practice as an active graphic designer on a local field, he is also known as a co-author of the book about history of Polish typography. No joke, this guy has done some research and is currently teaching at American University of Sharjah, UAE. At threedotstype.com you will find fonts for web, print and for you.

We asked Marian a few questions about his project:

Your project was selected from nearly 100 submissions to be part of the Slanted × Kickstarter mentoring & publishing program. What did you learn, what helped you the most?
I learned a lot. One of the most powerful parts of Kickstarter is that it reaches a global audience, and I have the feeling this was one of the biggest things I learned and also enjoyed a lot.The support we have received from Slanted and Kickstarter is how we can communicate with such widespread viewers. Support Independent Type is a rising awareness kind of project, and reaching such a broad public is crucial. After such an experience, I definitely believe in a backers community, and I would like to continue to build publishing projects with Kickstarter platform in the future.

How did this project come about?
It might sound pathetic, or cliche, but it all comes from the passion for type and a habit of collecting type specimens. Within the process of the mentoring, we decided to join forces with Lars Harmsen from Slanted, because we share this same point of view and we both are collecting those treasures. We have put our collections together and are currently in the process of adding even more type labels.

Which current trends do you see in type design?
What is very significant, is that the type design field is polarized nowadays. On one hand we have big corporate giants—and on the other hand small groups or individual designers which are also distributing typefaces. We believe this second group is producing an amazing body of work and need more substantial support. Type specimens have the magic power to encapsulate the current state of innovations in type design. We want to share with the world this fantastic and unexpected creativity through those documents also proved that the definition type specimen was recently very much expanded.

Another trend is obviously, that type designers produce more type specimens than ever before. We want to document this phenomenon. Our plan is to focus not only on a printed matter as the most current fonts are usually promoted through digital media. We want to showcase social media strategies. There will be a section in the book with pdfs which were designed to encourage potential font buyers from the desktop. And from the printed selection we have a lot of them which are not only executed fascinatingly abut also contains very serious content.

Why should our readers support your project? How do you hope to continue with it?
I think Independent Type Labels need more recognition, the concept of being an independent publisher and distributor of fonts is still not clear for a lot of people even from the industry. For example, a lot of graphic design students still feel not confident with type. Supporting our project means to join our manifesto of independent type labels and celebrate the creativity of independent, super-engaged people who are pushing boundaries of the design field. From the beginning it was a project to create awareness for independent type and I definitely want to continue it. It could potentially grow to something like Independent-Type-Label-Fairs where distributors are selling their specimens, goods, fonts, and you can meet them face to face, which is slightly a rare opportunity. Similar way as art book fairs works. Can you imagine this collective energy?

Thanks a lot for the insides and we keep our fingers crossed that your project will be financed!

Postcards from Isolation

Posted on by Postcards from Isolation

The project Postcards form Isolation, founded by London-based digital design studio sabato.studio, is a collection of collaborative & interactive experiences that represent the shifts in our lives caused by the recent COVID-19 pandemic. The origins of the project lie in a reflection on the deeper social, cultural, and economic impact of being in isolation. The initiators studied how the context of being isolated these days corresponds to the uniqueness of geographical islands—spaces that enforce a different connection to the land and its resources, and ones that shape human identity like no continent does. Right now we may evolve into islands of our own, driven by similar powers. What can we learn from that? How can we visualize our feelings about this shift for others to remember?

“No man is an island, entire of itself; every man is a piece of the continent, a part of the main” English poet John Donne wrote these verses while ill at home back in 1623. Fast-forward to 2020 and we envy his confidence in such a statement. The consequences of lockdown policies during the worldwide COVID-19 outbreak are hard to guess. Are we shifting towards becoming islands? Or, now more than ever, we’ll stick to our past lands? It’s not in our interest to predict the future, trying to outline what we currently see as a blurred picture. What we want to do, instead, is look outside our windows and, mostly, inside ourselves to understand what’s shifting.
Excerpt from the Postcards From Isolation Manifesto

The first launch of “Postcards” involved the work of designers, researchers and developers from around the world who were asked to portray shifts in their lives that are most important to them. The existing release includes a chosen number of experiments but the project is continuously evolving. The creators are inviting anyone to submit ideas to them through the website. They ask for all ideas to be already supported by design and development efforts so they can go through the selection process to be added to the project. Prospective contributors can join the team behind the project alongside a growing community of 50+ on Slack.

Postcards from Isolation

Design: sabato.studio
Research & Manifesto: Jacopo Botticelli and Anna Wojnarowska
Development: Lorenzo Migliorero

Ar/KATE: Mannheim by Florian Budke

Posted on by Laura Nadvornik

Nine selected book projects from the first Slanted × Kickstarter Mentoring & Publishing Program are live and ready to be funded. We are happy to present you each project in the upcoming days and weeks and hope you’ll support one, two, or all of them. 😉

Ar/KATE: Mannheim is the first instalment in an ongoing series of publications about the intricate interplay of architecture and skateboarding culture. Architect, design student and skate brand owner Florian Budke kicks things off where he knows all the rails and hidden gaps: his hometown of Mannheim.

Florian Budke was born in 1983 and started skating in 2000. He got a diploma in Architecture in 2013 and is studying Communication-design at HBKsaar, Saarbrücken since 2017. He is currently working, living and skating in Mannheim, Germany.

We asked Florian a few questions about his project:

Your project was selected from nearly 100 submissions to be part of the Slanted × Kickstarter mentoring & publishing program. What did you learn, what helped you the most?
Honestly I learned a lot about budgeting a campaign like that. This aspect was really interesting to me and Julia helped me a lot. If the campaign would reach its funding goal, I would really like to learn more about the production and publishing process of a book.

How did this project come about?
The project started as a student project at the HBKsaar with Tania Raposo. The idea was to create and develop a guide book for a special subject. First of all, I thought about a classic skate guide, but somehow, that was a bit too simple and too superficial for me. So I focused to combine Architecture and Skateboarding, which are both two personal interests of myself.

After the class I had the idea to start a skatemag based on this concept. According to the release of my skatebrand (Amateur Skate Co.) I put the Ar/KATE project on the back burner, but suddenly I stumbled across your campaign.

Is there a symbiotic relationship between skaters and the architecture they ride on?
Architecture influences and shapes the creativity and type of skating. It creates the setting and is also part of the action. So every architectural or street object is scanned for its “skatable” potential. Skate parks are trying more and more to imitate these architectural elements, but often it is nothing more than an attempt. The real character of street skating takes place in real confrontation with real architecture in real city settings. Architecture affects the scene, the vibe, and the feeling during skating. Due to this the act of skateboarding is deeply connected to the built environment.

Why should our readers support your project? How do you hope to continue with it?
The Ar/KATE Mannheim issue is hopefully just the beginning of the series. If people support, share and buy the book, we are able to expand the concept on other cities. So we can show more architectural buildings combined with different skatespots—and perhaps once upon a time we can build a worldwide architectural-skate-connection. 🙂

Thanks a lot for the insides and we keep our fingers crossed that your project will be financed!

Posted in Uncategorized

Sichtbarkeit gestalten

Posted on by jmeer

Under the title Sichtbarkeit gestalten (“Designing Visibility”), the participants of a course at Fachhochschule Potsdam, have jointly investigated where and how feminist thought and action become visible and what role design plays in this. The result is this “quilted” website, which assembles objects and other feminist artefacts. In a collective research they collected artefacts online: printed and digital publications, advertising, moving and photographic images, posters, objects, clothing, etc. For this work, the class developed the image of the quilt—based on a reflection on historiographic issues and the particularities of feminist publishing. It refers to working together on a supra-individual project, sharing stories and the sense of belonging and togetherness that comes with it.

The research defines a broad geographical, temporal and thematic field, on which individual artefacts are highlighted—this too is a consciously chosen image that takes into account the shadows that are created by the selection. To structure this field, the class has chosen categories that lie at right angles to a chronological or theme-based analysis: book, journal, and magazine titles, posters and advertising, digital and social media, info-visualizations, typography and language, moving image as well as body, clothing, and identity. In this way, they examined the specific modes of production and distribution of the respective media and the extent to which they condition and influence strategies for producing visibility.

From this research, the participants first developed a print publication—though not between two book covers, but as a loose-leaf collection. In this way, we took up the image of the quilt, but refused a fixed arrangement. Rather, we call upon the reader to explore, create and break up visual and thematic connections himself. In addition, this type of publication emphasizes the fragmentary, the unfinished and the polyphony of the collection. This website translates the concept into digital—and hopefully helps to continue the project.

Sichtbarkeit gestalten

Course at Hochschule Potsdam by: Julia Meer and Franziska Morlok
Write an email, if you would like to participate
Visit the Website

 

Inner Necessity by Léon Howahr

Posted on by Laura Nadvornik

Nine selected book projects from the first Slanted × Kickstarter Mentoring & Publishing Program are live and ready to be funded. We are happy to present you the individual projects in the upcoming days and weeks and hope you’ll support one, two, or all of them. 😉

“Art that had to be done:” in the publication Inner Necessity, Léon Howahr pays tribute to the artistic urges of those who have no choice other than to create. In this exploration of art brut and outsider art, Howahr compiles and highlights the works and life stories of (accidental) artists like Prophet Royal Robertson, Zdenek Košek, Josef Hofer, and many more, laying bare the utterly personal core of all artistic intent.

Léon Howahr is a graphic designer from Essen, Germany, with a passion in editorial design. Since finishing his studies at the University of Applied Sciences and Arts Dortmund in 2015, he has been working as a graphic designer and art director both in freelance projects and as an employed designer.

We asked Léon a few questions about his project:

Your project was selected from nearly 100 submissions to be part of the Slanted × Kickstarter mentoring & publishing program. What did you learn, what helped you the most?
You always feel that you get the most support in the areas that are not your cup of tea. I believe that what few people with a more creative background fully consider are the numbers. At least that is unfortunately the case with me. A Kickstarter campaign does not only mean to produce nice pictures and a nice video, but also to be aware of shipping and packaging costs, taxes and duties. Here the support of the partners Slanted and Kickstarter was definitely the biggest for me. Of course you also talk to them about the content of the book, design, rewards. But that’s usually fun! Thanks Slanted and Kickstarter for the great opportunity and coaching!

How did this project come about?
The project was originally my bachelor thesis in the field of communication design, which I designed in 2014/2015 at the University of Applied Sciences and Arts Dortmund. I had known Outsider Art for about 5 years at that time and since I love these and beautifully designed books, it was the perfect opportunity to combine the two topics for the project.

Is there a real Outsider Art/Art Brut scene? Or is it time to give them a stage? 
I would say yes and yes. Of course there is a certain “scene,” if you can call it that, in which certain galleries, institutions and collections from the field of Outsider Art and Art Brut play a role. And of course there are already numerous enthusiasts. But this “scene” is not hermetic and the boundaries are fluid. Here and there, there is a tendency or desire to be even more in the realm of contemporary art. This has also been reinforced in recent years by the participation of Outsider Artists in large contemporary collective exhibitions of important curators and museums. Nevertheless, my experience has always been that many people have simply never heard of Outsider Art—despite their interest in art, design, culture. This also led to the decision to dedicate a book entirely to this topic and, as you say, to give the artists a stage.

Why should our readers support your project? How do you hope to continue with it?
For me, Outsider Art was a great enriching addition to my understanding of art and I believe that everyone who sees the works for the first time feels a certain fascination for it. So I can only recommend the Slanted reader not to miss this great source of inspiration! But also people who already know Outsider Art will get their money’s worth—because well-designed books for an audience with design background are still rare in this field. I hope that the crowdfunding will be successful and that the book can be published in cooperation with Slanted Publishers in spring 2021.

Thanks a lot for the insides and we keep our fingers crossed that your project will be financed!

Artworks: courtesy christian berst art brut

Justice First, Coexistence Second

Posted on by slanted-api

We wanted to comment on the ubiquitous “Coexistence” logo created by Piotr Młodożeniec and added to over the years by many designers including Jerry Jaspar. We think it is a fundamentally flawed argument: “Why can’t we all just coexist” — In a capitalistic world, one cannot expect the oppressed to simply coexist with their oppressors. As long as religious, political, racial, sexual and economic inequalities are institutionalised and enabled by a ruling class, there can be no justice, no peace and no coexistence, BY DESIGN. Hence we wanted to satirise the centrist notion of simple coexistence as a hippie dream with no grounding in reality or existing power structures.

blank

Posted on by blank_publication

The second issue of blank will shed light on crisis from many different angles, unstable and yet resilient. We find ourselves living in times of crisis. On a personal level, everyone experiences their own crisis and, at the same time, is being exposed to a collective crisis. Now, more than ever, the latter, a social crisis, has become synonymous with an omnipresent phenomenon.

The theme is approached by more than 60 students and young graduates from all around the world, who responded to the Open Call. Guided by David Gallo’s graphic design, which in itself is moving in and out of crisis, the team is experiencing various turning points: literary, visual, critical, artistic, personal, political, serious, and ironic. The new issue of blank is approaching, tackling, and contemplating the phenomenon of crisis. Already collected and selected in autumn 2019, the contributions do not deal with COVID-19, and yet they touch the pandemic.

blank is an international students publication, initiated by a group of students of the IKA, the Institute of Art and Architecture at the Academy of Fine Arts Vienna. Their annual publication series serves as a blank space for everyone’s ideas. It might be nothingness and emptiness, but it also is the potential to be filled by our imagination. They see it as a free space, as a start, perhaps a challenge—an opportunity for sure!

Slanted is giving away 5 × one issue of the magazine blank—Issue 2: crisis! To take part in the raffle, write an email with the subject “blank” and your postal address (for dispatch) to [email protected] by June 12th, 2020, 11 a.m. (UTC+1). The winners will be drawn after the deadline and contacted by email. Whoever takes part in the raffle agrees to receive news from Slanted and accepts the privacy policy. Legal recourse is excluded. We wish you good luck!

blank

Editorial Staff: Ella Felber, Stepan Nest, Sebastian Seib, Martin Sturz, Lisa Penz, Carla Veltman
Graphic Design: David Gallo
Publisher: Self-Published
Release Date: May 2020
Format: 170 × 240 × 10.7 mm
Volume: 160 pages, 3 kinds of paper
Language: German and English
Price: € 14.–
Buy

Instagram: @blank_publication

Ashes to Ashes; Dust to Dust

Posted on by slanted-api

We must not forget we are all born the same, and we will be gone in the same form.

“we are dust, and to dust we shall return”

For us to stand together to face climate change, political madness, religious wars, and other paradigm shifts, we must be together as one human species.

US

Posted on by slanted-api

As we sought to coexist we need to defer and dispel all notions of judgment and sense of differences. There’s no I, YOU, HE, SHE, THEY, THEM, etc, it’s US, we are in this together.

Questions to Europe by Paula Riek

Posted on by Laura Nadvornik

Nine selected book projects from the first Slanted × Kickstarter Mentoring & Publishing Program are now live and ready to be funded. We are happy to present you the individual projects in the upcoming days and weeks and hope you’ll support one, two, or all of them. 😉

In the project Questions to Europe, Design student Paula Riek introduces children aged 6 and over to Europe and the EU in a colourful book printed on a risograph. It consists of 12 questions about Europe and is supposed to give the reader an opportunity to participate in the idea of the European Union at a very early age.

Paula Riek, is a 23-years-old graphic design student based in Würzburg, Germany, with an emphasis on illustration and graphic design. In her illustrations she likes to experiment with shapes and colors.

We asked Paula a few questions about her project:

Your project was selected from nearly 100 submissions to be part of the Slanted × Kickstarter mentoring & publishing program. What did you learn, what helped you the most?
I have learned a lot about calculation and project management because I didn’t have contact with these things in my studies so far. It was a great experience to work together with professionals from Slanted and Kickstarter, but it was also very helpful to get so much support from my family and friends.

How did this project come about?
My illustration professor André Rösler offered a course where we could work on a self chosen topic. I have been interested in Europe and the European Union for a long time. For the illustration class I started to read a lot about EU politics and functions. It’s an incredibly complex topic so it was really difficult to find a suitable visual language for it and to bring it to al level suitable for kids. Although I wanted to educate children about Europe I found it important to give the illustrations a joyful look, because the way the EU communicates is often very stiff and cold.

Why do you think it is important to communicate the values of Europe to the younger generation?
Children are the future and I hope that they will handle some things in a better way. There are many great developments but also problems in Europe right now and I think we have to find a communication space where we can discuss these topics. My book is an invitation to start this conversation at a very early age.

Why should our readers support your project? How do you hope to continue with it?
The European Union is threatened these days. I think some national movements like the Brexit do also come from a lack of communication of the values of the EU. There is no children’s book about Europe available right now. But I think that it’s an important theme—also for children. For the future I would love to make more editions in further languages so that many children can participate in this topic.

Thanks a lot for the insides and we keep our fingers crossed that your project will be financed!

The Human Genome

Posted on by slanted-api

A depiction of the Human Genome with differing scale axis, creating the visual of a growing pixellated root.
We are all the same. Digital Communication brought us closer together and managed to create a network of communities, where colour and heritage doesn’t matter.

What they really feel?

Posted on by slanted-api

There is this quote: be kind to people, everyone fighting they own war.
This artwork is exactly about this, in our “smiling” society you rarely can see what people really feel, even if they are you’re co-workers, neighbours or even friends. The issue become even more serious with wealthy and bright-side mask of social media. I want to encourage people show they reel feeling and real self, I hope it will help our society become more empathetic.

Typeface of the Month: Slandic

Posted on by Clara Weinreich

We are presenting our Typeface of the Month: Slandic by the German typeface designer Philip Lammert and published by his recently founded type foundry Vibrant Types.

Headlines are transformed into clear-cut messages with the handwriting type family Slandic. Its robust appeal combines the elegance of script typefaces with the lightness of handwritten notes. Therefore it might rather be the italic of a humanist sans, which perfectly suits for exciting contrasting typography. It offers a wide range of six weights and also a variable font.

What makes the Slandic so playful is the synergy between the quite narrow lowercase letters and the wide uppercase letters. It testifies humanist style to the core, what you can tell from the geometric H and O, the sweeping legs of K and R, the extending crossbar of the e and the oldstyle default numerals. Now, if that doesn’t make beautiful words! This very distinct aesthetic is a reference to the 1980s script handwriting “The Icelandic Method” by calligrapher Briem that originates in 16th-century chancery cursive. You can see it very clearly in Slandic’s sharp upward angles and its long-limbed ascenders.

Slandic’s visual appeal sets a reliable tone. It makes anything but a softened brush impression. Vertical characters vary quite balanced to define metrics, always minding precision. Curves confidently shape angles. Contours define clear rather than decorative characters. Strokes end straight like in a sans-serif. The low stroke contrast forms solid words. The almost upright italic angle gives it its sincerity. Thus it easily combines with any sans-serif or serif, adding a personal note to your design without giving it a comic spin.

The fonts of the Slandic allow you to design straight to the point. Most handwritten and script typefaces offer one single weight for a limited purpose, whereas Slandic’s font family is broadly applicable. Between Thin and Black you will find the style that matches your design. OpenType features let you choose from various sets of figures. The all caps feature activates alternative characters for a more harmonious rhythm. A stylistic set makes these characters accessible for a more compact body text.

Slandic is the third typeface of Philip Lammert who designed the sans-serif Peter and the serif DIN Neue Roman, which is also featured in the Yearbook of Type 2019/20. Under the foundry name Vibrant Types, he now publishes this expressive handwritten style typeface. It is one of the first Latin handwritten and script variable fonts.

Typeface of the Month: Slandic

Foundry: Vibrant Types
Designer: Philip Lammert
Release: June 2020
Format: OTF, TTF, WOFF, WOFF2
Weights: Thin, Light, Regular, Medium, Bold, Black, Variable
Price: from 38.– Euro (net)
Buy