It is impossible not to be influenced by the magnificent mill buildings we inhabit. In the design department we continually dig though inherited archives for inspiration. One particular instance is the graphics and mid-century typography of the former Sprague plant.
The original Sprague logo has worked it’s way into many iterations:
Appearing often enough we decided it was time to create a full-fledged working font. With the help of former super-intern Danelle Cheney, SpragueFace was sketched and produced into a beautiful, multi-weight, real-deal font.
More source material:
Initial sketches:
In use:
A bonus look at the light weight:
There you have it! Are any of our readers type geeks? Let us know what you think. Have you ever made your own font?
Posted November 1, 2011 by MASS MoCA
Filed under Design
6 Comments »
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November 1st, 2011 at 6:05 pm
Very thoughtful yet imaginative design development. Kudos!
November 1st, 2011 at 6:27 pm
Woo!!! Yay for Danelle!!
November 3rd, 2011 at 7:07 pm
Looks fantastic!!!
November 18th, 2011 at 1:10 am
Well done indeed. The classic modern aesthetic from the Sprague years always impressed me. Also, the way John Sprague insisted on spelling ‘employes’ with only one ‘e’ was just koooky.
November 18th, 2011 at 9:14 pm
Wow, great execution. I’ve never made my own font so I’m only speaking from a type appreciation/fan/user stand point. It’s beautiful and retains that ’50′s – ’60′s era feel. Reminds me a little bit of Erbar.
Will it be made available to the public?
Keep up the great work!
November 22nd, 2011 at 10:58 pm
Thanks Bruce! And thanks to Doug too. Via his repost of article — we’ve been in touch with a site that is interested in distributing the font… more to come.