Kristal

What started as a sketch for a brand name, is now one of our best known typeface designs. It is a typical “Eyal”-typeface with forms that are essentially calligraphic, combined with a unique modern twist.

It is a versatile book typeface with multiple weights and variants.
We are currently working on a commercial release of the Kristal which will be available for sale in the near future.

Kristal Open Caps

A special display version of the Kristal capitals. While Open Caps traditionally simulate a decorative 3D bevel, the Kristal Open Caps
are rather monumental and timeless in style.

This font will also be available for sale soon. Send us an email and
we’ll notify you.

Jerusalem

Hebrew characters – just as Latin ones – have a strong calligraphic orientation based on the well-known Broad Nib Pen calligraphy style. Still, there is usually very little harmony in designs that combine the two scripts (i.e. dictionaries, translations, and scriptures). One main reason is the fact that the horizontal strokes in Hebrew are thicker than the vertical ones, and in Latin vice versa.

Common combinations look forced and arbitrary. The differences are evident even in bilingual typefaces with both Hebrew and Latin sets (such as Lucida Hebrew). Lucida may be sans-serif and has little to no difference between thick and thin, but its Hebrew characters are much wider and look too light in comparison [example →].

The experimental Jerusalem design attempts to bring the two scripts together into one family, based on understanding the behavior of the characters in text. The two scripts harmonize with each other because they share the same “color”, rather than bearing a close resemblance or sharing exactly the same characters.

The Jerusalem design was part of my post-graduate Type Design project at the KABK in 1996 and was later exhibited in Meermanno - Museum of the Book. It was designed within a few months, after which I never continued working on it.

Rosart

One of the projects I did in collaboration with The Enschedé Font Foundry was the experimental revival of the Two Line English Body Rosart, designed in the 18th century by the Belgian type cutter Jacques François Rosart (1714 – 1777).

This revival, based on original type specimens from the J. Enschedé collection, aimed to interpret the spirit of the original design as faithfuly as possible. Irregularities in the design had to be kept, while I tried to remain invisible.

Staring

The introduction to the little poetry book “Gedichten van A. C. W. Staring” (published by Nicolaas Beets in Zutphen, undated) is set in a typeface, of which neither the name nor original designer is known. This typeface formed the basis for this revival. It is an interesting design with an innocent charm: note for example the g, y and 2.

The printed characters were of poor technical quality. Time, paper type and in particular, the worn shapes of the original lead letters, deformed each one in a slightly different way. Consequently, it is hence impossible to know what this design really looked like originally. In addition, not all characters were used in the short introduction, and I re-designed most of them from scratch. The Staring is, in contrast to the revival of the Rosart, largely my own interpretation.

OD - 1, 2, 3

Design and advertising agency OD in Rotterdam asked us to make a font for their own visual identity. Those are in fact three fonts, with identical spacing, which can be placed exactly on top of each other. Text set this way, seems to be made of adhesive tape.

Soya

For a book about artist Allie van Altena, we wanted a font with a rough feel, that originates by chance and arbitrary staining. We cut a font from potatoes and made stamp-prints from it. We used thick soy sauce instead of ink (and so we also didn't have to throw away food!).

We printed each character twice. The second print was naturally lighter, and this way we got two “weights”.

Douche sans

In 2006, I created on a steamed bathroom mirror the first sketches of a typeface for theater festival Mooi Weer Spelen in Delft. This font mixes upper and lower case, all (except the i) of the same height. It was applied in a kind of a snap-system in the designs of the festival.

Since 2013, we use an updated version in our own visual identity.