December, 2018
Typeface Design
media:
Illustrator, BirdFont, Indesign
Akita and Rhodesian are an illustrator's playground. Invented to extend the reaches of more common typefaces, these letterforms stretch to the tall task of accompanying illustration. Each display typeface lives on its own giant type specimen pullout.
Akita and Rhodesian are sister typefaces created to enhance displays and illustrations. Designed after my love for extended type and bold illustration, these two typefaces serve as accomplices to my personal illustration style of loose forms and bold lines.
These typefaces bear the names of two very cool dog breeds. Akita dogs are bold-looking but harbor a steel demeanor. Rhodesian Ridgebacks stand tall, proud, and present, bred to hunt large animals like lions. These dogs' personalities and reputations inspired the naming of these typefaces.
I created three posters to illustrate how the typeface lives with and without illustration. On its own, it commands presence on a page. Accompanying illustration allows the artist to weave and block their drawings around the type.
*beautiful dog in Slovene
View some of my process work and early ideation below.
