Hyacinthe

Working on site-specific projects with the sculptor Harry Gray revived an interest in the design of stencil typefaces, in which all the counterforms within the letters were ‘self-supporting’. Rather than resorting to the linking tags that support or anchor the counterforms in more traditional stencil faces, I looked for an approach in which the linkage was integral to the form of the letter. Taking as a starting point the ‘modern’ faces of the late 18th Century, as designed by Didot in France, Bodoni in Italy and Walbaum in Germany, I extrapolated from the high contrast between the thick vertical and thin hotizontals until the hairline strokes disappeared completely, to leave letters made of free-floating shapes without enclosed spaces