type blog | Behind the typographic scenes

An Interview with Typography.

Posted by Cosimo Lorenzo Pancini in Editorial, Typefamily on May/2024

Io sono la Tipografia. Manifesto was conceived and written in 2022 by Enrico Solfrini as a thesis in Communication and Design for Publishing at the Isia of Urbino (Italy); it has been produced in this revised version by Zetafonts following a special mention awarded in the Neologia competition (Graphic Days Torino). Not only a specimen for our typeface Evans, Io sono la Tipografia. Manifesto is an unconventional operation involving verb, typographic form, and graphics. In this interview, Zetafonts editor Dario Manzo speaks with author Enrico Solfrini about the thought process behind “Io sono la tipografia”:…read more

The History of Alfabeta

Posted by Dario Manzo in Uncategorized on Apr/2024

What happens when you put together an Italian type designer, a Greek Alphabet and an English Cursive Script? You get Alfa Beta, a lost typeface by Aldo Novarese that was digitized by Zetafonts after four decades of oblivion.

The Journey of Codec ME

Posted by Dario Manzo in Interview, New releases on Mar/2024

Designed with the precious collaboration of Omaima Dajani for Arabic glyphs and Oded Ezer for Hebrew, Codec ME is the first typeface by Zetafonts to include both Arabic and Hebrew scripts, expanding its language coverage to a wide range of MENA countries. In these challenging times for the Middle East Codec ME stands as Zetafonts’ humble way to celebrate its cultural richness, and the power of cultural exchange. In this interview, Cosimo Lorenzo Pancini answers the questions of guest editor Dario Manzo. You are an Italian foundry, based in Florence. What led you to study and…read more

THE ZETAFONTS TYPETOUR 2024

Posted by Veronica Iodice in News, Trip on Mar/2024

Our Spring 2024 Type Tour is unveiled! Meet the Zetafonts team in a festival near you! We’re delighted to bring you an exclusive update on our upcoming Spring 2024 Type Tour, where we’ll be diving into a whirlwind of events, conferences, and creative showcases across the globe. Not just a series of promotional events, but a way for us to meet with fellow type and visual enthusiasts, share our passions, and discover the diverse and dynamic world of typography. First on our itinerary is Hadath Alkhatt in Cairo, Egypt (3-10 March); this event celebrates Arabic calligraphy and will take place at the Seven Pillars International…read more

Maleficent types and where to find them

Posted by Cosimo Lorenzo Pancini in Interview, New releases on Feb/2024

We are thrilled to introduce a new addition to our font family, and this time, it comes with the signature style of Valerio Monopoli – an Italian graphic designer hailing from Rome and currently making waves in Barcelona. Valerio has already left an indelible mark on the typography scene, notably with the development of his font families for Pangram Pangram (Gatwick, Migra, and Räder), Blaze Type (Sapfir, Sagittaire), Colllettivo (Absans), and Cast (Gil Modern) foundries, each time showcasing his incredible skill and originality as a type designer. Now, Valerio brings…read more

The Counterspaces – Typography in the Age of Black Swans

Posted by Debora Manetti in Editorial, Trend Reports on May/2023

Zetafonts presents the new issue of the Type Trends lookbook series, titled The counterspaces (Typography in the Age of Black Swans). Curated by the Type Campus team, it is an exploration of the many contemporary counter-trends in the world of design and typography, that have arisen in response to the unpredictable events that have occurred in recent years. The counterspaces – Typography in the Age of Black Swans presents the work and the thoughts of some of the most interesting and innovative creators and thinkers in the typographic field, and…read more

Zetafonts goes to Offf Festival 2023

Posted by Debora Manetti in News, Trend Reports, Trip on Mar/2023

The next stage of the Zetafonts Type-Tour takes us to OFFF Barcelona 2023, the largest showcase of contemporary visual creativity and design. With 3 full days of talks from 64 international speakers, interactive activities and more, this festival represents for us not only a fantastic opportunity for networking and good time together, but also punctuates the presentation of the new issue of our annual Type Trends publication. The 2023 issue, The Counter Spaces – Typography in the Age of Black Swans, explores the counter-trends currently emerging in the world of design and typography, that have arisen…read more

A walk in deep dreams: designing type with artificial intelligence.

Posted by Cosimo Lorenzo Pancini in Case studies, News on Nov/2022

In early summer 2022, two image generation softwares based on neural networks were released in open beta to the public: Dall-E by OpenAI and Midjourney AI. We had been interested in artificial intelligence and creativity assisted by neural networks since long time, and had been already admirers of their “unreasonable effectiveness“. But these new models not only far outperformed the older ones, but even our best expectations on the quality of imagery and design generated by neural networks. While everybody was hooked on the capacity of these models to produce beautiful sci-fi concept art or realistic photographic imagery from…read more

Let's change the world, one artwork a time!

Can typography generate a kinder world?

Posted by Debora Manetti in Uncategorized on Nov/2022

With more than 90 design schools over the world, TypeCampus is a program to talk about visual and typography culture. It is born to inspire young and affirmed designers, visual educators, and type lovers. Being in touch with so many people has proved to be the perfect opportunity to enhance typography in all its potential: to convey messages of positivity and change. In an increasingly self-oriented society, good practices of kindness have collapsed, risking becoming a legacy of times gone by. That’s why Fight for Kindness is born: as a unique opportunity to bring…read more

A beautiful mistake

Posted by Cosimo Lorenzo Pancini in Editorial, Trip on Sep/2022

Cover image ©OFFF TLV 2022 In May 2022 we were contacted by Nitsan Rozenberg and Liri Argov, co-directors of OFFF TLV, the Tel Aviv branch of the worldwide famous OFFF Festival. They asked us to design the catalog for the forthcoming edition, and as soon as they mentioned the proposed theme “OFFF*UCK, celebrating mistakes“, we were immediately hooked. The idea behind the festival theme, created by Awesome studio and described in their “OFFF*UCK manifesto”, is that mistakes are an essential part of the creative process, and that we should embrace them…read more