F37 works with designers from Lance Wyman to Spin on its new collaborative typeface collection

Some of Rick’s favourites among the collection include Non-Format’s contribution, F37 Lara. “It breaks every rule in the book – making our type designers twitch a little!” It features overlapping, “absurdly tight” kerning and 45° diagonals strokes. Anthony Burrill’s entry is inspired by the type found on cardboard boxes (above). F37 responded with a variable ‘bounce’ axis, “where the type jumps around on the baseline”, in reference to the rough and ready printing often found on cardboard boxes.

The work from students is given equal weight in the collection. “Over the years, I’ve seen so many portfolios from students with lovely type ideas which just get forgotten about because they don’t have the necessary skills to produce it into a working typeface,” says Rick. Jack Bennett’s F37 Haptic is a good example. Rick saw the designer’s work when lecturing at Norwich University of the Arts and the two came together for a font which attempts to bridge the gap between Braille and type.

“With each collaboration we encouraged the designers to develop their ideas into broader technical horizons. For example, the multiple colour palettes of F37 Clown, the colour shifting pixels of F37 Cap1, the optical sizes for F37 Lara and the elaborate interlocking italics of F37 Nifty.”

The full list of collaborators includes Alec Tear, Alisa Burzić, Anthony Burrill, Eurico Sá Fernandes, Grey Albornoz, Haider Muhdi, Hector Pottie, Jack Bennett, John Rooney, Keelin Wright, Lance Wyman, Milton Glaser, Non-Format, Nomad Studio, Ochre, Oli Frape, Phillip Block, Spin, and Superfried.

You can see the full F37 x collection on the foundry’s website, now available for purchase.