Behind each stroke and curve lies a tale of inspiration and craftsmanship. The PVC font family is a journey that starts with traditional sign lettering, all the way down to the digital screen. In this latest development, the brand new PVC Express font style unveils a world where the strokes dance frantically. At first glance, the PVC fonts might not show how they are intertwined and interconnected with each other. Behind the family lies a whole reflexion on design that define PVC Express and all its sibling font styles. Let’s take a peek behind the creative curtain and explore the stories of each style to find their origin in gestures, proportions, and tools.
PVC Express: The Swift Beveled Markers Digitized
PVC Express began as an extension of Hélène Marian's ongoing PVC project, a font family marked by its continuous evolution and nurtured under the umbrella of Production Type
With origins found in quick hand movements, PVC Express embraces the energy and dynamism of its heritage. In the blink of an eye, PVC Express sprung from the nimble gestures of hand-drawned gift tags. Picture designer Hélène Marian rushing to get all her gift tags in time for Christmas Eve diner and there you have it. “The whole style has been designed with the same momentum, rhythm, and circular dynamic that moves from one letter to another at full speed. It results in concrete letter structures, such as the “a”, rolling over itself, or the “s”, and its increased sinuosity that does not break the movement.” she declared last year in an interview with Type01 magazine.
But how does swift marker strokes translate into digital accuracy? PVC Express finds its home within the PVC font family, integrating with its siblings through a shared x-height. Amidst the diverse styles, Express stands out as the most expressive and hand-like, echoing the pulse of rapid handwriting while maintaining a curated restraint. The strokes, deliberately dry yet teeming with energy, bridge the gap between analog gestures and digital fidelity. The rapid motions that once graced canvas found new life as digital loops and curves. Express preserves the spirit of a marker stroke, making it a digital force of velocity.
In a nutshell :
- Express is Marian quickest hand style, first used to tag gifts.
- Tool : Beveled Markers
- Marian’s input : “Everything in this typeface evokes speed and it may well be the most overtly gestural style of the family, yet again the spirit remains the same: not to mime or caricature the hand, but to show a typographic and digital response to questions raised by hand”
PVC Dynasty: A Spiky Adaptation of Engravings
PVC Dynasty emerges as a captivating serif style that draws inspiration from the regal engravings of French dynasties. This typeface stands as a deliberate departure from the width-focused and compact aesthetics of its counterparts - Banner, Menu and Promo. The name “Dynasty” carries echoes of historical significance, reflecting the font's base material. Thus, royalty leaves its mark in typography once again. PVC Dynasty mimics French dynasties with sharp, spiky serifs that draw the eye. More specifically, it is inspired by engravings from the Saint-Denis Basilica’s royal necropolis.
Dynasty embraces its "nasty" edge as an homage to the daring spirit that characterized various French dynasties but also with a reflexion on space-filling lettershapes. Spacing is hereby reduced to the minimum as “Tight and very much touching” is the motto that best describes the font’s spirit. The true essence of PVC Dynasty lies in its exploration of negative space from a unique perspective: while other styles seek width or density, PVC Dynasty embraces any given format it is unleashed onto, while focusing on the interplay of counterspaces.
With an initial view to working best on book covers, the typeface now shows countless other potential applications: anywhere ultra compact serifs display anything that needs to grab attention, that stands bold and unapologetic are required.
In a nutshell :
- Dynasty and Dynasty Italics are Marian’s experimentation on engraved in stone letters transposed to the study of pen lettering
- Tool : beveled pen nib (studies)
- Marian’s input : “The trace of the tool has completely disappeared in the PVC to give way to structures resulting from this extreme width (on the contrary this time, condensed) in association with cumbersome wheelbases, which induces spontaneous ligatures and feasibility tricks to avoid the shocks.”
PVC Banner and Banner Ultra: Widening the Horizon
In the grand orchestration of the PVC font family, PVC Banner and Banner Ultra bring forth an original and powerful expansiveness. Once more, width and proportions forcibly take center stage. These styles stretch the boundaries of width, filling the horizontal space with impact, expressing a point that is impossible to ignore. The name "Banner" itself conjures images of grand-scale communication. Storefront signs, trucks, building coverups: no statement is too small for PVC Banner to make.
But what sparks this focus on width and breadth? The tools of trade play a role. In sign design, capturing attention is paramount. Drawing from this dogma, PVC Banner channels the gestures of the artist's hand. The result is a sound combination of width and impact. Let it be said that the ability to command attention through sheer expanse extends to a vertical typesetting as well. In all directions, PVC Banner hits fast and strong.
In a nutshell :
- Banner and Banner Ultra are thought to use all the space available.
- Tool : Handbrush
- Marian’s input : “Initially thought to fill in all given formats even if it means extending excessively, once digitized the trace of the tool has completely disappeared to give way to the structures resulting from this extreme hunting (extended)”
PVC Promo: Compact Power on Display
From the grandeur of width to the power of compactness, PVC Promo takes the stage. Its bold, black design ensures visibility, making every message impossible to overlook. But how does Promo pack such a punch within a smaller width?
Helen Marian harnessed the impact of poster design and adapted it to typography, resulting in a style that’s both concise and compelling: this style marries the impactful aesthetics of poster titling with a restrained width, making it a quintessential choice for bold messages that demand recognition. The name "Promo" itself hints at its purpose – it's tailored to ensure that a message is never discounted, but rather elevated through its design. Every character, every curve resonates with the ethos of visibility and memorability.
In a nutshell:
- Promo is derived from advertising poster designs, in a bold, compact, impactful way.
- Tool : Handbrush
- Marian’s input : “Here again, the trace of the tool has completely vanished in its digital translation, making way for the structures that emerge from this extreme weight designed for maximum impact and darkness within a confined format.”
PVC Menu: A Brush with Elegance
PVC Menu is a personal take on French brush lettering. The font instills an air of approachability, and happily blends in the PVC family.
Drawing from both tradition -the rich camaieu of French brush lettering practices- and personal creativity, Menu merges bold capitals with an enigmatic "je-ne-sais-quoi" in lowercase forms. PVC Menu invites to savor the gestures behind the design. Its design pays homage to typical French brush lettering styles that once led to the creation of the iconic Antique Olive typeface. The slender junctions and spiky yet pointed terminals complement the brush's graceful touch, while giving the font a whole new personality. One will find the same junctions and terminals in the aforementioned PVC Dynasty sister font. With PVC Menu, each character becomes a tribute to the delicate balance between structure and artistic flair.
In a nutshell :
- Menu is Marian’s understated style, her most sober and quick style to execute for all the technical infos used on cassette covers.
- Tool : Brush and Flat nib
- Marian’s input : “Here, the space created by a less extravagant contrast and weight allows remnants of gestural quality to emerge: pointed terminals, delicate junctions, and open endings.”
The PVC font family sports a unified philosophy about tools and space. It delivers a strong statement about how inner- and outer room are connected in any given media.
Today, with the release of PVC Express, the PVC font family grows once again. Express takes its place as a unifying force, with a shared philosophy of format exploration, each style bringing a unique perspective to the table. PVC Express stands as the embodiment of swiftness, one of the commonly shared traits across the family.
From traditional tools to digital precision, Marian’s experiences shape each font style. The PVC font family is not just a collection of typefaces; it is a testament to reflexion on format and tools. From swift brushwork to royal engravings, from wide expanses to compact power, the PVC font family is a testimony of precision and purpose.
