Richard J. Neutra became an icon of Modern architecture as an artistic visionary, social commentator and outspoken defender of the environment. He refined his unique approach to design, for which he coined the term biorealism, over half a century ago. Regarding humankind and its surroundings as two inseparable halves to a greater whole, Neutra created habitats with the welfare of man and nature as his utmost concern. His ideas of evolutionary growth and adaptability compelled House Industries to develop Neutraface Condensed, built upon the original typeface and driven by the enduring spirit of the revolutionary who inspired it. “I have tried to be a feeling observer of life in all its manifestations, not a cold rationalist.” House Industries adopted this precept of Neutra as the guiding principle when the foundry commissioned Christian Schwartz to draw Neutraface Condensed. Instead of being exactingly compressed, the new companion fonts were composed around a complementary structural framework in order to better reflect the sensibilities of their predecessor. The result is an individualistic design with a restrained exuberance that shuns stylistically ersatz imitation. This compact yet lively presence allows Neutraface Condensed to lend flexibility and economy to headlines without sacrificing the simplicity and charm of the original. Like all good subversives, House Industries hides in plain sight while amplifying the look, feel and style of the world’s most interesting brands, products and people. Based in Delaware, visually influencing the world.

The history of Able’s connection with the Harry Potter phenomenon is really up in the air. It’s a catch-22 in this business - you either promote your own work and negotiate expensive exclusive licenses, or you work with a promoter and sell your designs to anyone and everyone. It could have been an in-house designer at Rowling’s publisher, Scholastic, or a freelancer who proposed Able for the headings and such. The responsible party licensed it from T26, and JK Rowling’s storytelling made it a star. (I suppose it’s ironic that there’s a whole lot of unwritten history in the typography business.) Able’s rise to fame really is a classic love story between reading and type design. If the books weren’t so popular, Able might still be waiting for some Mexican fast food chain to pick it up for packaging design. The movie deal certainly made the font all the more recognizable, what with its merchandising campaign. Popularity can also cripple a great decorative face. It’s always being recognized as “The Harry Potter Font.” It might just have to wait a few decades for the Potter phenomenon to subside to be freed from the “Chamber of Pigeonholed Fonts.” In the meantime, I’m sure that a lot of fledgling graphic design apprentices are reading their new Potter books, being charmed by the idea of type design when they’re not turning the pages too fast to notice.

While in the same vein and spirit as Burgues and Compendium, Bellissima began from an entirely different thread from those fonts. It started with Alex Trochut generously showing me a gorgeous lettering book from his grandfather’s library: Bellezas de la Caligrafía, by Ramón Stirling, 1844. Stirling was one of the Latin calligraphy pioneers who introduced a refined version of English calligraphy in Spain and made it popular in the nineteenth century. Some scans from that book served as initial basis for the caps in my Poem Script. But it was always in the back of my mind that I should do a copperplate, and the Stirling model was the perfect source. My intention was to veer away from Stirling’s exuberant ornamentation, and work within simplified forms of his ideas. As it usually is with most of my projects, Bellissima became its own bird and shaped its own flying patterns. Suddenly there were many ligatures, multiple endings and swashed connections, hundreds of alternates for both uppercase and lowercase. Bellissima has an effusive energy that appeals much beyond its sourcing. It’s intended for these modern times of appreciation for old crafty things like stationery and letterpress, where its origins help it shine brightly. Bellissima Script Pro is a complete font with almost 2000 characters full of alternates, swashes, ligatures & ornaments covering a wide palette of latin languages and Bellissima Script Redux is a random sample of glyphs totally usable with a reduced price.