Knowledge Slab | Designing a font: where to start?

Typeface: Knowledge; Classification: slab serif; Styles: roman, italic Weights: thin, regular, bold Inspiration: Archer, Rockwell, Beton

Whenever I start designing type I always seem to start with one letter – the boss. In this case it’s “K”. Not sure why, I just understood how “K” needed to show up, what it felt like, the space it needed to inhabit. 

Knowledge (the name of the font - subject to change) is not a commission, it's not destined for a specific logo or package, it just feels like a good place to start on this new journey.

I don’t think that slab serifs are particularly trendy right now, but font styles, like slim-fit and bell-bottom jeans, ebb and flow on the regular. I've always had the idea that I could never be a real type designer because I'm less comfortable designing old style type than geometric type. The geometry of monospace is what really floats my boat. Making something beautiful inside of such an apparently restrictive box is a real achievement. But I digress.

A slab serif font feels like a challenging yet safe enough place to start. If all goes well my first commercially available font - Knowledge Slab - will be available for sale at a font dealer near you sometime soon. 

I'm relying heavily on Archer by Tobias Frere-Jones and Jonathan Hoefler. For me, Hoefler&Co. is the gold standard. I’d say that for the last 10 years in my work as a brand and package designer when I’m choosing fonts I’ve taken the approach that there has to be a very compelling argument NOT to use a Hoefler typeface. There is a level of beauty, craftsmanship and reliability that I think is unmatched contemporary type design. (Again aiming high!)

I have a personal story about Jonathan Hoefler's "normalness" and class, but I will save that for another post. 

End Fanboy. Knowledge goes on.