A Down-to-Earth Typeface on the Horizon

In a growing list of interesting typeface concepts, I think this one is high on the list, but very down to earth. Aerial Bold—brainchild of Joey Lee and Benedikt Groß—will, quite literally, be created by the earth. By using satellite images, the creators intend to map out letterforms shaped by buildings, lakes, forests, highways, and anything else found hiding amid the aerial imagery. The Aerial Bold project recently hit its funding mark of $10,000 on Kickstarter.

With a nod to mass data-crunching projects like SETI at Home, Lee and Groß are touting the project as “The Planetary Search for Letterforms.” But, this ambitious undertaking is about more than just a new typeface. The Aerial Bold team will be making the entire collected database of letterforms and symbols derived from the imagery available for designers to use. Not only that, but they intend to make the tools used to capture and create the data available as an opensource resource.

So, not only will the Aerial Bold project yield a creatively curated collection of characters in OpenType and TrueType formats, it will also offer a way for the average Joe designer to do the same. I can visualize creating subsets of the typeface created from a specific region, or just using the natural elements of satellite imagery as a starting point. I’d be lying if I said I hadn’t already compiled a short wishlist, starting with “Bold Buildings of the Soviet Era” and “Glyphs of Glasgow Greenery.” And, if you’re like me, you’re not going to look at satellite images the same ever again!

Comments (0)

Commenting is easier and faster when you're logged in!

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Name *

Email *

Website

Loading comments...