The Hague-based Swiss/German type designer Nina Stössinger presented an entertaining and accessible talk about a seemingly obscure subject: reverse contrast in type design. To put that into a meaningful context, Nina talked about contrast in letterforms in general, showing that in Latin type, vertical elements are traditionally heavier than the horizontal ones, while the reverse is true in Arabic and Hebrew.

Referencing many historic and contemporary examples — some obscure, some more mainstream, some obvious failures, others remarkably functional — Nina showed she did her research well, providing an interesting setup for her own work. Additionally, the material proved an elegant entry into a discussion about some fundamental aspects of type design.

Re-imagining contrast

Deconstructing letterforms into their horizontal and vertical elements, Nina researched their respective importance for legibility, almost accidentally demonstrating that serifs play an important role. Here, the theme of her talk subtly shifted from “reversed contrast” to “horizontal contrast”.

It’s notoriously difficult to come up with something new in typeface design that actually works. While designing a text typeface, it is all too common to stick closely to conventions, and understandably so, as those conventions have been proven to work. Nina’s experimentation with one of those conventions — the direction of the contrast — had a clear goal: to force herself into unfamiliar territory, and thus to look with fresh eyes, in the persuit of an unconventional, yet functional design. She quoted David Jonathan Ross: “The reversal of one little attribute is enough to open up a host of uncharted letter-drawing possibilities.”

Nordvest

Nina gave us a peek into the process of developing her “Nordvest” typeface, which she started while studying at the TypeMedia master program at the KABK in The Hague. (It will be released to the general public later this year through the Monokrom font foundry.) Simple looking animations (but non-trivial to make), showing key letterforms from their first digital incarnation to the final version, provided a comprehensive insight into the evolution of Nordvest.

Setting out to design a reversed contrast typeface, she explored the boundaries of what is reasonable for a typeface suitable for text. Nina applied various sketching techniques, including flexible-nib writing (which she admitted being uncomfortable with), working her way through the challenges of the idea. Struggling with stability (early versions were “wobbly”) and balance, she managed to deliver a fresh looking typeface, which, while displaying an obviously non-standard contrast, is nevertheless very readable.

Nina herself wondered if one simply gets used to non-conventional shapes when looking at them long enough, joking that after working on this design for such a long time she didn’t perceive it as “odd” anymore. It’s one of the hardest aspects of designing type: keeping enough distance to be able to reflect on your work in a productive way. But Nordvest simply is not difficult: it is friendly and inviting. And apparently so is Nina: the audience offered her a very warm applause.

Nina Stössinger’s website: Typologic