Type is Never Innocent

Type is never innocent. Its interaction with social and historical context, its inextricable link to speech and thought, and its record of instrumentalization all make type profoundly political. But how does shape become political? How is geometry filled with meaning?

This type family addresses these questions, focussing on historically burdened broken-script typefaces, seeking a contemporary re-interpretation while investigating historical guilt.

Broken-script typefaces were appropriated and used for political propaganda by the Nazi regime in a pre- and interwar Germany during the 1920s-1940s. This font family makes full use of contemporary design technology in an attempt to reclaim these tainted forms.

The starting point of this type family is an unequivocal— if reinterpreted — broken-script grotesque font, with all the historical and political baggage that implies. Using variable-font technology, other fonts within this family gradually depart from the strict geometry of broken script, challenging the user to ask themselves at which point font loses this baggage and is no longer guilty.

Supervisors: Michele Galluzzo, Franziska Weitgruber