St. Martin
Carl J. Kurtz · Carl J. Kurtz · 2024
A free experimental revival drawing on a peculiar bracketing artifact found across roughly 36 posters by 19th-century Parisian printer Jean-Alexis Rouchon, grafted onto a neutral sans-serif base.
About
St. Martin isolates and reproduces a corner shape that appears wherever a shoulder, bowl or arm meets a stem in Rouchon's work, a feature the designer speculates originated from the use of type stencils on woodblocks. The typeface modifies Mirat-Masson's Amiamie (itself derived from Aileron) and is released under the SIL Open Font License. A printed Risograph specimen accompanies the font, including a short essay on the artifact's origins, poster reproductions and cardstock stencils for drawing an 86 pt version by hand.
Classification
A sans-serif base modified to incorporate a distinctive bracketing artifact drawn from 19th-century Parisian printing, giving it a display character distinct from neutral grotesque or geometric categories.