Typeface Design
Design an original typeface, moving from hand-drawn characters that form the core “DNA” of the typeface, to a complete set of lowercase and uppercase letters.
Wood etched letters
Design Solution
Almond Pointe is a counter-dominant typeface with swoopy curves. It features a distinctive almond-shaped counter, stems with sharply chiseled edges meeting concave curves, and letterforms balancing on a point at the baseline. It speaks with a quiet cadence and rhythm, showing refined movement and delicate balance. The typeface works well with short words and lowercase letters. The sharp angled edges of Almond Pointe pair beautifully with 3D metal and wood engraving.
Basis of the typeface design - the letter "o"
Almond Pointe typeface, with upper and lower case alphabet
Type anatomy
3D metal letters on interior wall
Restaurant Food Truck Sign and Menu
Book Title
Food packaging
Design Process
I started with a pile of used coffee grounds and drew letter forms in the coffee with my fingers, akin to writing with sticks in the sand. I let the material do what it normally does, which is to spill over. I took a picture of the letters in the coffee grounds and then used tracing paper to simplify the letter forms. With the first word “adhesion,” a strong sequence of letters (e, s, i, o) began to emerge, with the “o” being the most dominant form.
From these initial letters, I developed a “kit of parts” – the “o” with its almond-shaped counter and the “h” providing the stem. Other parts were created by rotating and resizing existing parts – like the top of the “o” becoming the shoulder for the “r” – and the stem of the “h” becoming the crossbar for the “t.”
With the kit of parts in hand, I created the rest of the lowercase alphabet, using the counter-dominant “o” to form many other letters (such as b, a, p, g) and the stem of the “m” (short or extended) for vertical lines. I established a set of design rules to create consistency.
Lastly, I tested the letters of the alphabet by using them in a pangram (a sentence that contains every letter of the alphabet at least once.
Software: Illustrator, InDesign, Photoshop
First 8 letter forms
Letter "o" forming basis of c and e
Disassemble letter "o" to form strokes, shoulder, tittle
Letterform "h" provides stem, crossbar, and spine
Pangram