Exposure
205TF · Federico Parra Barrios · 2022
A variable display face by Federico Parra Barrios whose single axis shifts letterforms across a photographic exposure spectrum – from ink-flooded black at -100 to dissolved, stencil-like outlines at +100.
About
Developed over 2.5 years at the Atelier national de recherche typographique in Nancy, Exposure replaces the conventional weight-width-slant model with a single light intensity axis spanning -100 to +100. At zero the face reads cleanly for headlines; push toward either pole and the letterforms either fill with darkness until counterforms vanish, or bleach into near-ghostly outlines. Each of the 1,380 glyphs was drawn individually to handle the transformation – the typeface took first prize at the CDA54 type design awards in 2023.
Classification
A variable typeface whose single custom axis simulates photographic exposure rather than conventional weight, width or slant. At zero the letterforms are clean and legible; at negative values counterforms fill and blacken; at positive values strokes dissolve into stencil-like outlines. Structurally the base design reads as a humanist display face with a generous x-height, developed for headline use across its full axis range. Tagged as stencil/serif by independent catalogues, reflecting the overexposed end of the axis rather than the neutral base.