Typeface Review

FP Head

Reviewed by Yves Peters on April 13, 2009

Somehow I have the feeling I have been waiting for FP Head since 2001.

That year the late summer edition of the FontShop BeNeLux publication Druk focused on design and typography in Copenhagen. It featured illustrations of some lovely Danish type designs, lettering and stone carving, and branding. Yet the carved inscription of Ole Søndergaard and the wide styles of his FF Signa, Knud V. Engelhardt’s street sign alphabet, a sample of Claus Achton Friis’ lettering and his logo for Credit Association Denmark, and Kontrapunkt’s custom typeface for Danske Bank; they all seemed to miss … something.

The frustration I felt led me to imagine a typeface which incorporated the very best elements of all these examples. In my head I envisioned a wide sans, slightly squarish with superellipse curves. Architectural yet human, as if the letter forms had been delicately carved in stone. With time-worn shapes, their rounded stroke edges and corners lovingly eroded by the surf of the Baltic Sea. The alphabet’s features slightly overexposed, radiating comforting warmth, giving the impression one was looking at the characters against the setting sun. And with generous open corners, making ink traps redundant. It is as if Morten Rostgaard Olsen somehow managed to reach into my mind and shape this fantasy into being.

Yves Peters is a graphic designer / rock drummer / father of three who tries to be critical about typography without coming across as a snob. Previously a columnist for Typographer.org and editor-in-chief of The FontFeed, he currently divides his time between teaching at the Communication, Media and Design department of Artevelde University of Applied Sciences, and publishing at Adobe Create and writing for a variety of type foundries, weaving pop culture and design trends into foundational typographic stories. His ability to identify most typefaces on sight is utterly useless in daily life.

One Comment

  1. Guido Rosso says:

    Like this one a lot. Reminiscent of Dax and Neo Tech.

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