Week 18: Rogier
Dutch vibes <3
TGIF y’all!
This week I’m delivering something far, far out of my comfort zone! It’s delicate! It’s classy! Some might say elegant?
A couple months ago I was at an antique store (the same place where we all met Rhub), and I was looking through a stack of old books when I saw this font on the cover of one. At first glance, it looked like a pretty normal italic. Upon closer inspection, it was a very weird lil thing! The serifs are a little off but in a charming way and there are swash caps sprinkled throughout. I skipped the swash caps for now but I might revisit them later! I love and hate the weird serif endings on some of them.
The book is about Rogier van der Weyden who was a Dutch painter from the 1400s. I didn’t open the book because I was distracted by the type but I included some of his paintings in the specimen images for this week. They live in Creep City but I kind of like how the paintings pair with the type.
The design process was pretty straightforward although at times it became a bit fiddly (british accent). I started with R, O, G, and A — the normal/non-swash letters from the source. Once those were feeling solid, the rest came together pretty smoothly. I find italics to be a really fun challenge and making something light, with serifs, and slightly tapered stems only adds to it. Spacing this was the same kind of satisfying as vacuuming — it was a big mess at first but seeing it all cleaned up at the end was the definition of gratification.
A couple people recently asked me how I’m able to keep doing this project every week. It’s a question I don’t have a straight answer to, but I suspect it’s a combination of being a freelancer, loving the process, and being stoked that you’re all here with me! It’s really great to get messages and comments from y’all every week! It’s truly the best. If you like this project, please share it! It’s a labor of love but the enthusiasm from y’all makes it all worth it!
Have a great weekend <3
Libbie