Optimo
Optimo is an independent Swiss type foundry founded in 1998 by Gilles Gavillet, David Rust, and Stéphane Delgado.[1] In the same year, Optimo launched a website to distribute their fonts digitally, the first of its kind in Switzerland.[2]
History
First initiated as a student project at the École cantonale d’art de Lausanne, where Gilles Gavillet, David Rust, and Stéphane Delgado were studying,[3] Optimo was initially conceived as a digital platform publishing and selling different items such as photographs, clothes, music, and typefaces.[4] At first, only publishing their own typographic productions, the platform evolved over the years into a digital type foundry offering typefaces from designers such as François Rappo.[5] Optimo also collaborates with private clients to create custom bespoke fonts. Such clients include Squarespace, TAG Heuer, Flodesk, Photo Élysée, New York Times Magazine, and Art Basel.[6]
Notable Optimo Typefaces
- Kabin, published in 1998, designed by Delgado, Gavillet, and Rust.[7]
- Detroit, published in 1998, designed by Delgado, Gavillet, and Rust.[8]
- Cargo, published in 2002, designed by Gavillet and Rust. Originally designed for the visual identity of the music club Cargo at the Swiss national exhibition Expo.02.[9] Cargo was used in 2009 for the brand identity of Roc Nation, Jay-Z’s entertainment company.[10]
- Executive, published in 2007, designed by Gavillet and Rust.[11] Executive was used by the British music magazine The Wire as their main typeface from 2008 to 2010.
- Theinhardt, published in 2009, designed by Swiss type designer François Rappo. Named after the German type designer Ferdinand Theinhardt, Theinhardt is based on the study of the origins of sans-serif typefaces emerging from the late 19th and early 20th centuries, including Akzidenz Grotesk. The New York Times Magazine used a custom version of Theinhardt for two years until 2012.
- Plain, published in 2013, designed by Swiss type designer François Rappo. Plain is used by the American multinational music video hosting service Vevo for its brand identity.
- Antique Legacy, published in 2020, designed by Swiss type designer François Rappo. Antique Legacy is an interpretation of Helvetica.[12]
- Apax, published in 2016, designed by Swiss type designer François Rappo.
- Basel, published in 2021, designed by Swiss type designer Chi-Long Trieu. Basel was initially designed to correspond to the specific need of matching Latin characters with non-Latin typefaces by offering a wide weights range. In 2017, Basel was shortlisted for a Swiss Design Award.[13] The Japanese fashion retailer Uniqlo uses Basel for the brand identity of its Uniqlo U collection.[14]
- Didot Elder, published in 2004, designed by Swiss type designer François Rappo. Didot Elder is a revival of a typeface by Pierre Didot the Elder featured in a 1819 specimen published by the printer.[15]
- Genath, published in 2011, designed by Swiss type designer François Rappo. Genath is a baroque typeface based on a 1720 type specimen by Johann Wilhelm Hass for the then Genath foundry, later renamed Haas’sche Schriftgiesserei.[16]
- JJannon, published in 2019, designed by Swiss type designer François Rappo. JJannon is based on the work of the Swiss-born Protestant printer and punchcutter Jean Jannon.[17]
- Px Grotesk, published in 2013, designed by Swiss designer Nicolas Eigenheer. Px Grotesk was originally designed for a publication for the German artist Carsten Nicolai. The typeface was awarded a Swiss Design Award in 2008.[18]
- Rand, published in 2019, designed by Swiss type designer François Rappo. Inspired by The New York School and the work of Paul Rand.[19]
References
- ↑ "About Optimo". Optimo.ch. Retrieved 13 September 2024.
- ↑ Swiss Graphic Design Histories, Multiple Voices. Zürich: Scheidegger & Spiess. 2021. p. 175. ISBN 978-3-03942-020-9. Search this book on
- ↑ Maruyama, Arata (2022). Form #1, FormSWISS. Japan: FormBOOK. p. 101. ISBN 978-4-9912720-0-4. Search this book on
- ↑ Swiss Graphic Design Histories, Multiple Voices. Zürich: Scheidegger & Spiess. 2021. p. 162. ISBN 978-3-03942-020-9. Search this book on
- ↑ Swiss Graphic Design Histories, Multiple Voices. Zürich: Scheidegger & Spiess. 2021. p. 170. ISBN 978-3-03942-020-9. Search this book on
- ↑ "Custom Typefaces". Optimo.ch.
- ↑ 100 Years of Swiss Graphic Design. Zürich: Lars Müller Publishers. 2014. p. 282. ISBN 978-3-03778-399-3. Search this book on
- ↑ Blackwell, Lewis; Haycock Makela, Laurie; Makela, P. Scott (1998). WHEREISHERE. London: Laurence King Publishing. ISBN 1-85669-141-1. Search this book on
- ↑ Frische Schriften/Fresh Type. Zürich: Edition Museum für Gestaltung. 2004. p. 60. ISBN 3-907065-99-9. Search this book on
- ↑ Types We Can Make. Lausanne: ECAL/University of Art and Design. 2011. Search this book on
- ↑ "Executive specimen" (PDF). Optimo.ch. Retrieved 13 September 2024.
- ↑ Paradis, Louise. "Antique Legacy". Optimo.ch. Retrieved 13 September 2024.
- ↑ Federal Office of Culture. "Basel Grotesk. A functional and global approach to type design, 2013-2017". Swiss Culture Awards. Retrieved 13 September 2024.
- ↑ Paradis, Louise. "Basel x Uniqlo". Optimo.ch. Retrieved 13 September 2024.
- ↑ Rappo, François (July 2004). "Radical revival of Historical Typefaces". idea Magazine. 52 (305): 134.
- ↑ "Genath". Optimo.ch. Retrieved 13 September 2024.
- ↑ "JJannon". Retrieved 13 September 2024.
- ↑ Federal Office of Culture. "'Tailor Cuts', three fonts, three books". Swiss Culture Awards. Retrieved 13 September 2024.
- ↑ "Rand". Optimo.ch. Retrieved 13 September 2024.
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