FS Conrad - A typeface for Artist Conrad Shawcross
Art loving typographic foundry Fontsmith has created a new thought-provoking typeface – FS Conrad, for British artist Conrad Shawcross and his forthcoming installation work Chord which is due to open this month at the Kingsway Tram Subway in Holborn, London.
Fontsmith were commissioned in early 2009 by not-for-profit arts organisation Measure to create a typeface that reflected the philosophical and scientific nature of Conrad's work. His latest work Chord has seen him build two identical rope machines that move away from each other whilst weaving a thick rope from spools of coloured string.
Chord is considered to be a strong structural metaphor that is concerned with the human perception of time and it promises to be a highly talked about event within the London art scene.
In response to Conrad's artwork, Fontsmith type designer Phil Garnham has created FS Conrad, an intricate display typeface composed of fine parallel lines that overlap to create a multilayered texture within words. These fine lines combine to meet at a central point in each letter, creating a striking design with a level of detail that is not often seen in the headline typefaces of today.
Jon Scott, Creative Director of Measure “Creating a new typeface in response to an artists sculpture is an unusual brief. Fontsmith have excelled in capturing the physical
properties of Conrad Shawcross’ work and produced a typeface that is brave and elegant in execution. ”
The FS Conrad font family has two weights, Headline and Regular. The Headline weight of 7 lines was created for large display sizes only. The Regular weight of 5 lines was created to be more robust at smaller sizes.
