Hi gang,
I'm looking for contemporary type designers/foundries based/born in Chicago, with an eye toward potentially licensing their work for a very civic-minded client in that city. So far, I've compiled the following list. Any others I should be aware of?
Thanks!
Foundries/DistributorsAvondale Type Co.
Okay Type (Jackson Cavanaugh)
Ascender (Terrance Weinzierl)
T26
Designers
Patric King
Jim Ford
Comments
The client's mission is promoting the work of Chicagoans in a particular field. Choosing a typeface with Chicago roots would dovetail nicely with that mission.
It's part of the initial exploration process. I'm not going to limit myself to "Chicago type" if the available options don't match the requirements/message/mood of the project.
https://3st.com/
https://3st.com/about/studio/rick-valicenti
https://www.typemag.org/typetales/
if I’m not right for you, 100% advocate calling rick at thirst or jackson or cris hernandez. all are wonderful. barry deck also has deep roots here and recently started making type again; his site is barrydeck.com.
@Patric King Concerning the Big Shoulders typeface, I'm curious whether it was commissioned by the city of Chicago, or a sort of spontaneous project.
The client was Cedille Records, a non-profit record label that focuses solely on classical music in Chicago. They nurture emerging talent and provide a place for established artists to realize their passion projects.
They asked my firm to redesign their website, and responded favorably to the idea of using type that had a Chicago connection.
We used a single weight of Harriet Display (Okay Type) for headlines; Big Shoulders (Patric King) for subheads, slugs and the like; and Miramonte Pro (Steve Matteson) for body text, intros, etc.
We're pleased with the results and, more importantly, so is the client.
https://www.cedillerecords.org
To me using a libre font for branding is counter-productive.