Architype Van Doesburg is a geometric sans-serif typeface based upon a 1919 alphabet designed by
Theo van Doesburg
Theo van Doesburg (, 30 August 1883 – 7 March 1931) was a Dutch artist, who practiced painting, writing, poetry and architecture. He is best known as the founder and leader of De Stijl. He was married to artist, pianist and choreographer Nelly ...
, a cofounder of the
De Stijl
''De Stijl'' (; ), Dutch for "The Style", also known as Neoplasticism, was a Dutch art movement founded in 1917 in Leiden. De Stijl consisted of artists and architects. In a more narrow sense, the term ''De Stijl'' is used to refer to a body o ...
art movement. The digital revival shown at right was produced by Freda Sack and David Quay of The Foundry.
The face is constructed entirely of perpendicular evenly weighted strokes. Each character is based upon a square divided into a raster of 25 smaller squares. Van Doesburg's earliest uses of the alphabet was in limited quantity, made up of letterpress ruling pieces, and not as strictly formed as his more finished 1919 version. A similarly constructed rectilinear sans-serif typeface, designed in 1917 by
Piet Zwart
Piet Zwart (; 28 May 1885 – 24 September 1977) was a Dutch photographer, typographer, and industrial designer.
Biography
Early life
Piet Zwart was born on May 28, 1885 in Zaandijk. He trained as an architect, and began graphic design projec ...
bears comparison. The face is similar to Van Doesburg's later 1928 alphabet designed for the Café Aubette in Strasbourg. Both faces anticipate later typographic explorations of geometric reductionism of
Wim Crouwel's 1967
''New Alphabet'' and early digital faces like
Zuzana Licko's faces ''Lo-Res'' and ''Emperor 8.'' The Architype Van Doesburg typeface is part of a collection of several revivals of early twentieth century typographic experimentation designed by Freda Sack and David Quay of The Foundry.
References
*Friedl, Frederich, Nicholas Ott and Bernard Stein. ''Typography: An Encyclopedic Survey of Type Design and Techniques Through History.'' Black Dog & Leventhal: 1998. .
*Hoek, Els, Marleen Blokhuis, Ingrid Goovaerts, Natalie Kamphuys, et al. ''Theo van Doesburg: Oeuvre Catalogus.''
Centraal Museum
The Centraal Museum is the main museum in Utrecht, Netherlands, founded in 1838. The museum has a wide-ranging collection, mainly of works produced locally. The collection of the paintings by the Northern Mannerist Joachim Wtewael is by a lon ...
: 2000. .
*Lupton, Ellen. ''Thinking with Type: A Critical Guide for Designers, Writers, Editors, & Students,'' Princeton Architectural Press: 2004. .
*Strauss, Monica. ''Graphic Design and Typography in the Netherlands: A View of Recent Work,'' "Prelude: The Avant-Garde Trajectory in Holland." Princeton Architectural Press: 1992. {{ISBN, 1-878271-62-8.
External links
Architype 1 types
Geometric sans-serif typefaces