Typeface & Zine
My love for the famous Akzidenz Grotesk font is growing at an alarming rate, and I don’t see it slowing down anytime soon. I first saw this font in places like the NY Subway and Braun’s product catalogs. Is it better than Helvetica? That depends on who you ask. If you’re asking me, then yes—it’s Helvetica’s more charming friend. Inspired by this admiration, I attempted to recreate a version of Akzidenz Grotesk with some minor changes. I’ve always loved how my name looked in Akzidenz Grotesk, and I wanted to craft my own version for personal branding. For this assignment, we also had to create a zine using our typeface—but more on that further down.
Creating these mock-ups had me scratching my head a bit, but I’ve settled on this presentation. Either four-letter words look best with this typeface, or I just have a soft spot for them. As this was my first time creating a typeface, I encountered errors and inconsistencies—common issues for early type designers. This project gave me a newfound appreciation for the meticulous work involved in crafting a font and how often we overlook it.
Here is the final version of the ‘‘Giuseppe Grotesk’’ zine. Feel free to read past the text because, well, I repeat myself.
Illustrator : Giuseppe Arcuri
Type Designer : Giuseppe Arcuri