Project One, Part Two

Today I am pleased to share my new typeface, Notch Eight. Working on this project has been stressful, exciting, terrifying, and delightful. I hope you all enjoy these new letters as much as I am!

Notch Eight is an exciting, active typeface that appears to move on the page. The typeface uses line thickness to create a more varied and appealing typeface.

Notch Eight features an all uppercase alphabet with modules inspired by railroad boogies as well as numbers inspired by railroad crossing wig-wags.

The name “Notch Eight” comes from train engineering jargon for ‘full throttle’. Speed is often associated with ideas moving ahead, and thus Notch Eight alludes to an idea progress and forward-thinking.

Best of all, you can download Notch Eight for free! Just click this link or search for Notch Eight on Dafont.com.

Project One, Outside Inspirations

Assignment: Find 10 Examples of modular typefaces that carry the characteristics of your design direction.

Notch Eight will include sharp edges complimented by soft circles. As such, I will be sharing other modular typefaces with full circles and hard lines.

Project One, Part One

For the first project of Type Studio, I was required to design a Modular Typeface. Part One of this project had the following requirements:

Your client will be an international event (symposium or conference). Based on the event’s theme and purpose, define how you will find inspiration for your design and give you a design direction. Include an incredible image of your inspiration

Here is my work for Part One:

“Notch Eight” A New Typeface for the International Railway Summit

By Alex Westcott

Client:
The client for this project is the International Railway Summit 2015 being held in Barcelona, Spain between February 18th and 20th. They can be found at this link.

Design Inspiration:
“Delegates will hear from industry leaders about strategic and technological best practices on key issues including high-speed rail, interoperability, safety and security, modernisation(sic) of infrastructure and rolling stock, competition with air and road networks, securing investments, sustainability and the future of rail travel.” -About IRTIS

Typeface Name:
Notch Eight comes from train engineering jargon for ‘full throttle’. A locomotive’s speed is controlled via lever, notch eight being the highest speed. Speed is often associated with ideas moving ahead. Thus, Notch Eight alludes to an idea progress and forward-thinking.

Design Direction:
Notch Eight was inspired by railroad bogies-the wheeled platform on which the train cars ride. The flowing lines and wheels themselves make up the modules for this typeface. Angles are pulled directly from bogie edges, making this a more unique type design. The curves are built off of the in-set sections of the train wheels (the shiny part seen on the inside of the rails). When a full circle is made, a small design of the center wheel hub will be added, giving this typeface more diversity between letters. Flat pieces are given special treatment as well:  Verticals mimic the massive springs while horizontals are side views of actual rails.

The Modules:

Stay tuned as I continue working on this project!