• 2020
  • Garaje Multi

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  • 2020
  • Garaje Multi

Garaje takes its inspiration both from the alphabets of the Bauhaus school and the vernacular inscriptions of Spanish garage owners: two worlds that share a desire to reduce typographic forms to simple geometric elements. At the Bauhaus this geometrization is ideological: it represents a rejection of tradition and the affirmation of an objective and rational vocabulary. With garage owners it is a simple matter of logic, certainly due to an ignorance of tradition. It is somewhat naïve to wish to reduce the shapes of the alphabet to elementary forms. Perfect geometrical forms seem less than perfect to our eyes: type Design abounds with optical corrections that compensate for our perception of forms.
Garaje plays specifically with this paradox: its construction is rigorously geometrical, anchored to a scalable modular grid, with no optical correction. A perfectly objective system, but a typographical aberration, simultaneously right and wrong. For the last 20 years, I have extended this family in every direction, to the point of absurdity: extremely narrow or outlandishly wide letterforms, all built from the same modules. Today it is a complete system, available in 44 widths and 5 weights. The complete family counts 445 fonts, hundreds of thousands of glyphs, and zero contrast: Garaje is a typeface which is at the same time brutal and playful, rational and naïve. Garaje Multi embeds 13 different widths in each font, from 0503 (5 on 3 grid) to 05015 (5 on 15 grid). The default set is a mix of 0503, 0504 and 0505. The subfamily includes 5 fonts (2352 glyphs each) + 1 variable font. Its construction allows to compose in many widths without changing the stem weight. Letters on the lowercase set go wider and wider when repeated, and it’s fun.
Available at 205TF.
Online specimen

  • 2015
  • Le Pigalle × be pôles

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  • 2015
  • Le Pigalle × be pôles

Le Pigalle is a hotel in the eponymous district of Paris. The agency be-poles (Paris / New York) commissioned me to create its custom typeface, which is inspired by the vernacular signs and inscriptions of this lively and typical district. Photos © Benoît Linero

  • 2020
  • Garaje Condensed

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  • 2020
  • Garaje Condensed

Garaje takes its inspiration both from the alphabets of the Bauhaus school and the vernacular inscriptions of Spanish garage owners: two worlds that share a desire to reduce typographic forms to simple geometric elements. At the Bauhaus this geometrization is ideological: it represents a rejection of tradition and the affirmation of an objective and rational vocabulary. With garage owners it is a simple matter of logic, certainly due to an ignorance of tradition. It is somewhat naïve to wish to reduce the shapes of the alphabet to elementary forms. Perfect geometrical forms seem less than perfect to our eyes: type Design abounds with optical corrections that compensate for our perception of forms.
Garaje plays specifically with this paradox: its construction is rigorously geometrical, anchored to a scalable modular grid, with no optical correction. A perfectly objective system, but a typographical aberration, simultaneously right and wrong. For the last 20 years, I have extended this family in every direction, to the point of absurdity: extremely narrow or outlandishly wide letterforms, all built from the same modules. Today it is a complete system, available in 44 widths and 5 weights. The complete family counts 445 fonts, hundreds of thousands of glyphs, and zero contrast: Garaje is a typeface which is at the same time brutal and playful, rational and naïve. Garaje Condensed subfamily goes from 0703 (7 on 3 grid) to 3503 (35 on 3), and includes 145 fonts, + one variable font. Its construction allows to compose in many sizes without changing the stem weight. Specimen made with DrawBot by Rémi Forte.
Available at 205TF.
Online specimen

  • 2014
  • Luxeuil script

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  • 2014
  • Luxeuil script

Luxeuil script is a very rare Merovingian script, from the beginning of the seventh century. It is derived from uncial, half-uncial and roman cursive: before the advent of the Carolingian Minuscule, it is considered as one of the first formal minuscule.
Intrigued by this local unknown writing, born a few kilometers from my home, I studied it with my friend Claude-Laurent François and tried to design a digital version of it. I had to understand the ductus and then to reproduce the gesture and stroke of the pen. Rather than drawing the outlines, I digitized the inner skeleton, and applied afterwards a virtual elliptic pen. This dynamic approach allowed me to create the very large number of ligatures contained in this handwriting: these ligatures are created automatically with initial, medial or final contextual forms.
Unpublished

  • 2022
  • Leïla Buecher — Posters

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  • 2022
  • Leïla Buecher — Posters

Posters and street campaign for the opening of Leïla Buecher boutique in Barbès, Paris. Leïla Buecher is a talented and independent French jeweler.
Photos by Laurent Castellani

  • 2011
  • Émergences

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  • 2011
  • Émergences

Poster of the 4th edition of the festival Émergences, a week dedicated to young creation in Besançon. Black + Gloss varnish. Selected in Chaumont design graphique festival.

  • 2023
  • Les 2 Scènes — Cinéma 22-23

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  • 2023
  • Les 2 Scènes — Cinéma 22-23

Posters for the season 2022-2023 of Les 2 Scènes Cinéma.
Typeset in Album Sans

  • 2011
  • Théâtre musical de Besançon — lumières

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  • 2011
  • Théâtre musical de Besançon — lumières

A poster for the Théâtre musical de Besançon. The illustration is, as usual, very litteral : a crystal chandelier for a concert on the music of the Enlightenment. It is of course made of circles, and thanks to and thanks to a black pattern printed on the back, the chandelier lights up when the night comes, when the poster is backlit.

  • 2023
  • Les 2 Scènes — Danse & Cinéma 22-23

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  • 2023
  • Les 2 Scènes — Danse & Cinéma 22-23

Posters for the festival Danse & Cinéma, Les 2 Scènes, Scène nationale de Besançon.
Typeset in Album Sans

  • 2017
  • Park MGM × be pôles

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  • 2017
  • Park MGM × be pôles

Park MGM is the new name of the famous Hotel Montecarlo, on the Las Vegas Strip (Nevada). It is owned by MGM Resorts. The agency be-poles (Paris / New York) commissioned me to design the exclusive typeface of the hotel, Alder, used for its interior and exterior signage, and all of its communication.
Rather than the excessive and often caricatured image of the hotels in the city, the visual identity of the Park MGM chooses elegance, with a very refined interior design. Likewise, Alder is inspired by the proportions of classic Roman capitals, with a more contemporary design. It comes in 4 weights : Regular, Bold, Italic and Condensed. Exclusive use

  • 2010
  • Musée d’Orsay

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  • 2010
  • Musée d’Orsay

The Musée d’Orsay wanted, in 2010, to renew its typography, returning to the typeface defined in its original visual identity, developed by Bruno Monguzzi and Jean Widmer (1986). The museum will was to update Walbaum, cut by Justus Erich Walbaum (around 1830), then unique typographic voice of the institution. With Philippe Millot, we defined a family of «cousins» of Walbaum, in styles that appeared later in the 19th century. For text typefaces, a Grotesk (sans serif and bold), and a Typewriter (slab serifs, low contrast, and light). For display typefaces, the uppercase present variations of texture in the manner of 19th century display type. Unfortunately, the Museum barely used this new typeface system.

  • 2017
  • Le Barn × be pôles

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  • 2017
  • Le Barn × be pôles

Cast iron is used on all signage and property objects, in a wide range of techniques: enamel plates, sign painting, silscreen, embroidery, etc.

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