vala

overview

This exploration brings 12th century European design to the forefront of the 21st century. Today, there are constantly new design trends that designers must keep up with to stay relevant. Blackletter typography emerged in the Middle Ages and is rarely used in modern designs. Reimagining blackletter script in the modern world can create a design that is luxurious and accessible.

This hand drawn typeface called Vala, brings forward classical design elements to pull designers back into the roots of typography with a modern take. I chose a Textura script called DTL Flamande for the inspiration of my typeface. It is calligraphic and has a handwritten quality that I wanted to experiment with in my type exploration. For a modern reference, I looked towards the typeface Myriad for its legibility and letterform specificities.

Deliverables

Typeface design
Poster design

My role

Typeface designer
Graphic designer

Date

April 2022
blackletter reimagined
This is the title poster for the series of typographic posters in the form of a type specimen.

These posters showcase the type and reflect how Vala is a modern take on a historic font that can be used in modern design

process

background

I have a fascination with art and design history, specifically in Europe. I wanted to research what art and design looked like during the European Renaissance.

During the research process, I came across blackletter script and its usage in text, specifically in the Gutenberg Bible. I discovered that blackletter came about during the Middle Ages and remained prevalent through the 16th century.

why?

Today, it seems as though there are constantly new design trends that designers must keep up with to stay relevant.

Are these beautiful, historical designs just forgotten and not usable anymore because they don’t follow modern trends?

Solution

Looking back at historical designs can be one way to learn about history and its relevance to the modern design world.

Reimagining blackletter script in the modern world can create a design that is luxurious and accessible.
My response was to design a typeface to bring forward historical design elements, pulling designers back into the roots of typography but with a modern take. The typeface would be luxurious yet accessible with undertones of traditional blackletter script.
I took the typeface DTL Flamande as the core inspiration for my typeface design. This version by Matthew Carter’s is so beautiful that I wanted to further investigate this typeface and bring it into the modern world.
why dtl flamande?
- I enjoyed the roundness of the uppercase in contrast to the condensed lowercase.
- I liked the ratio of x-height, cap height, and ascender/descender height.
- I like the usability of it how one can fit a lot of characters on a page.
early sketches
I used the typeface Myriad for a modern reference designed by Robert Slimbach and Carol Twombly because it is accessable and legible.

I iterated upon different letters to see which characters fit into the system that I was creating.
I returned to previous iterations to find the perfect design. My original intention was for the typeface to be legible, minimal decoration aids in this effect
high fidelity sketch
final typeface, vala