Hadi Foster

Indie is a trendy script, result of the wide range of possibilities that can be achieved using a pointed brush. (1)

“You Only Live Once” say The Strokes, (to me, symbols of indie music) so, what would represent that sensation of volatility better than a brush?

As you may already know, this time inspiration came from hipsters and indies around us: We may sometimes criticise them, we may sometimes want to be like them, but the truth is that the universo gráfico they generated these past years is gigantic, full of colour and variations. (2)

Brush lettering and Sign painting are fields I've been fond of since I started as a designer. Nowadays, these styles are getting a lot of attention and maybe it’s due to the undeniable mark of life that is materialised when using a brush. This tool is so expressive that shows the passions and fears of the artist, and materialises that idea of “living the present”, so popular in this era.

When you see Indie, you think of skaters, rollers, surfers, hiphop dancers, street artists, summer, and why not? California beaches.

So if you feel life is only one, it’s high time you got Indie into your fonts' collection!

STYLES

Indie comes in 4 styles plus another one which consists only in capitals. Indie; Indie Shade; Indie Shade Solo; Indie Inline are all open-type programmed and have exactly the same glyphs and metrics, so you can combine them without probem. (I.E. You may use Indie Inline, then write the same word using Indie Shade Solo, and finally put them together).

In applications such as Adobe Illustrator, the font has nice results when fi ligatures is activated. However, if you want a more casual look, activate the contextual and the decorative ligatures.

NOTES

1. After several years of practicing calligraphy I can say that to me, there’s nothing more satisfying than being able to create fonts out of your own handlettering. I owe a lot of this brush-style to Carl Rohrs. He was the very first calligrapher who taught it to me. His style is unique and what he can do with a brush is truly marvelous. I'm serious.

2. In spite of some particular cases, I can say I'm happy to live in a present in which Typography is living a kind of Renaissance along with Lettering. Like it happened with W. Morris a hundred years ago, handcrafts are being revalued/reborn, and some of this may be happening thanks to these indie designers that, trying to be unique, gave new/fresh air to different areas of graphic design.

INTRODUCTION

I have always wondered if the circle could ever be considered as an imperfect shape. Thousands of years have passed and we still consider circles as synonyms of infinite beauty. Some believe that there is something intrinsically “divine” that could be found in them. Sensuality is many times related to perfectly shaped strong curves, exuberant forms and a big contrasts. Erotica is a font created with this in mind.

THE PROCESS

This story begins one fine day of March in 2012. I was looking for something new. Something which would express the deep love I feel regarding calligraphy in a new way.

At that time, I was practicing a lot of roundhand, testing and feeling different kinds of nibs; hearing the sometimes sharp, sometimes soft, sound of them sliding on the paper.

This kind of calligraphy has some really strict rules: An even pattern of repetition is required, so you have to be absolutely aware of the pressure of the flexible pen; and of the distance between characters. Also, learning copperplate can be really useful to understand about proportion in letters and how a minimum change of it can drastically affect the look of the word and text.

Many times I would forget about type-design and I would let myself go(1): Nothing like making the pen dance when adding some accolades above and below the written word.

Once something is mastered, you are able to break some rules. At least, that’s my philosophy. (2)

After some research, I found that the world was in need of a really sexy yet formal copperplate. (3)

I started Erotica with the idea of taking some rules of this style to the extreme.

Some characters were drawn with a pencil first because what I had in mind was impossible to be made with a pen. (4)

Finding a graceful way to combine really thick thicks with really thin hairlines with satisfactory results demanded months of tough work: The embryo of Erotica was a lot more bolder than now and had a shorter x-height. Changing proportions of Erotica was crucial for its final look. The taller it became the sexier it looked. Like women again?

The result is a font filled with tons of alternates which can make the user think he/she is the actual designer of the word/phrase due to the huge amount of possibilities when choosing glyphs.

To make Erotica work well in small sizes too, I designed Erotica Small which can be printed in tiny sizes without any problems.

For a more elegant purpose, I designed Erotica Inline, with exactly the same features you can find in the other styles.

After finishing these styles, I needed a partner for Erotica. Inspired again in some old calligraphic books I found that Bickham used to accompany his wonderful scripts with some ornated roman caps. Erotica Capitals follows the essentials of those capitals and can be used with or without its alternates to accompany Erotica.

In 2013, Erotica received a Certificate of Excellence in Type Design in the 59th TDC Type Directors Club Typeface Design Competition.

Meet Erotica, beauty and elegance guaranteed.

Notes

(1) It is supossed that I'm a typographer rather than a calligrapher, but the truth is that I'm in the middle. Being a graphic designer makes me a little stubborn sometimes. But, I found that the more you don't think of type rules, the more graceful and lively pieces of calligraphy can be done.

(2) “Know the forms well before you attempt to make them” used to say E. A. Lupfer, a master of this kind of script a century ago. And I would add “And once you know them, it’s time to fly...”

(3) Some script fonts by my compatriots Sabrina Lopez, Ramiro Espinoza and Alejandro Paul deserve a mention here because of their undeniable beauty. The fact that many great copperplate fonts come from Argentina makes me feel really proud. Take a look at: Parfumerie, Medusa, Burgues, Poem and Bellisima.

(4) Some calligraphers, graphic and type designer experimented in this field in the mid-to-late 20th century and made a really playful style out of it: Letters show a lot of personality and sometimes they seem drawn rather than written. I want to express my sincere admiration to the fantastic Herb Lubalin, and his friends Tony DiSpigna, Tom Carnase, and of course my fellow countryman Ricardo Rousselot. All of them, amazing.

I've always been in love with fat didones. That’s the reason of Posh.

In search of something unique, I started this family back in 2013 with the aim of creating the fattest yet readable bodonian typeface in the market: It was a challenge, because roman fonts need generous counters (or what some call white spaces) and taking them to the extreme of inexistence attempted against the construction of many glyphs. Ears, dots, terminals and serifs always need some extra space so I had to find the exact point of boldness to make characters which have those attributes work well in the middle of those which haven't. (1)

After a while, I felt I was again ‘in my element’: Big contrasted letters, sexy and elegant curves, and that Lubalinesque feeling that characterise my fonts. (2)

Words written with Posh are a explosion of elegance and sensuality due to the fact that its didone attributes were exaggerated. Since it’s full of alternate glyphs, one can change and choose them until a nice block of ‘‘black’’ is achieved. (3)

To accompany the regular style, I designed Posh Inline, a font with the same quantity of glyphs than the regular one; an all caps style called Posh Capitals, and also a really playful Italic version.

I hope you find this one delicious like I do! This font is dedicated to all who understand letters are not just meant to be read, but also to be appreciated in group and individually.

Enjoy it.

NOTES

(1) In example, it can be easy to design a fat letter ‘n’ with almost no counter, but really tough to make a satisfactory letter ‘s’ with serifs to match that ‘n’.

(2) Also, it wasn't my first attempt in fat didones. Take a look at my font Reina, made in 2012.

(3) Posters above show many words with ball terminals that seem to dance above and below the words in order to fill those “undesired” blank spaces.