FORTESCUE SPECIMEN

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Fortescue, drawn in March 2009, in two cuts; House & School.

The House cut formed the very basis for the identity of artist Jake Spicer. Our idea was to create a structure for an ever-evolving and re-cutting typeface. Thus allowing Jake’s identity to evolve with his work. This House cut created a core structure for the typeface where the overall shape and form of the character set stayed the same but the serifs are allowed to change with every cut. This idea was inspired by Fontlab’s Multiple Masters tool – this tool allows the user to dynamically change between two extremes.

The second cut of Fortescue resulted in the School cut, which was specifically created for Jake’s Art School he holds as part of his studio practice. The School cut was created to give more of a classical feel (Caslon, Times). The serifs were lengthened and given a softer curve compared to the House cut’s dramatic sharp serifs.

The project aims to implement different glyphs, weights and cuts for Jake’s identity. This allows his identity to change as he does, whether this be subtly or completely. Fortescue will be re-cut and released commercially in the near future. It will be distributed by Colophon.

The Entente
— April 2009