Acier
Specimen
Acier In Use
On October 2, South Korean band BTS released a remix of Jawsh 685 and Jason Derulo’s single Savage Love (Laxed – Siren Beat). Commissioned by Big Hit and Columbia Records, Annie Stoll did the art direction and design for the single cover as well as the art direction on the lyric video, which was animated by Cristóbal Saez. The idea is for the type to reflect the conflict the lyrics speak of while also being on brand to represent the collaboration style of all the artists. Like music, color choice and type vibes can convey emotion across language barriers. The typefaces used were chosen because of their look and qualities. A mix of organic and technical to reflect the sound contrasts. The main type is Balboa Extra Black. The two secondary fonts are Acier BAT and FF Eureka Mono. The Korean type is really the most important… Seol Sans is a really cool font that was created by Minjoo Ham, Akira Kobayashi and the Monotype Studio to go with Neue Frutiger. Read more about the design in this Twitter thread.
Acier Display Gris
“Savage Love (Laxed – Siren Beat)” [BTS Remix] single cover and lyric video
Acier is used for the logo of Alpine Eagle, a new collection of watches by Chopard, the Swiss manufacturer of luxury timepieces. Forty years after Chopard introduced their first sports watch in steel, the iconic St. Moritz model, the watchmakers from Geneva have launched a contemporary reinterpretation of the same theme. The Alpine Eagle is made of Lucent Steel A223, a material that was developed exclusively in-house, and is 50% harder than other steels. Designed by Cassandre and released by French type foundry Deberny & Peignot in 1930, Acier is emblematic of the various aspects of 19th-century display typography, exploring the fantastical and three-dimensional aspects that were fashionable at that time. Acier bears this link into the metal from which it took its name (Acier is the French word for “steel”), just as Jérôme Peignot notices: “Few typographic works have been so effective in connecting the physical and graphical worlds”. Engraved into the steel case of the Alpine Eagle, Acier has come full circle. Jean-Baptiste Levée’s digital revival is used in slightly modified form, with an omitted A bar. The Outline style was chosen for the wordmark as used in commercials.
Acier Display Outline
Chopard Alpine Eagle
Information
About this font
Designed by Cassandre (born Adolphe-Jean Mouron, 1901-1968) in 1930, Acier was the second design by the legendary artist to be published by the Deberny & Peignot foundry. As a dual-color display typeface, designed in two series (Noir and Gris), Acier is, according to Jérôme Peignot, a “distant relative of Bifur”. Like its predecessor, it is a caps-only alphabet, maybe less spectacular and more pragmatic.
Was Acier Cassandre’s initiative or a market-wise commission from Charles Peignot, who surely wanted to make the most of the Futura trend? The type was mainly aimed at publishing and newspaper use, to be used in conjunction with photographic illustrations. The specimen's commercial pitch clearly stated the intention: “[…] designed in two directions to align with the tones of photosetting. Acier Noir, with its strong contrast, echoes the black and white effects of illustrations. While Acier Gris echoes the soft greys of mono- or dualtones prints. This balanced addition is a typographic premiere.” We do not know if sales met expectations, but the typeface was rarely seen in action during the 1930s. It stayed in the shadow of Europe (Peignot’s version of Futura), whose sales long topped the foundry rankings.
Acier, as an “Antique”, is a self-assumed modernist typeface and mixes several influences: above all, functionalist decorative arts, design, and architecture, along with urban epigraphy. It is also emblematic of the various aspects of 19th-century display typography, exploring the fantastical and three-dimensional aspects that were fashionable at that time. Acier bears this link into the metal from which it took its name (NB: “Acier” means “Steel” in French), just as Jérôme Peignot notices: “Few typographic works have been so effective in connecting the physical and graphical worlds”.
Jean-Baptiste Levée’s revival is the first to bring Acier into digital form. After careful study of original specimens, Levée redrew the two styles (Noir & Gris) from scratch, maintaining two optical sizes, and added Solid, Outline, and Strokes fonts for the application of color effects.
© www.cassandre.fr APPROVAL 2021-01-21-01 By the ESTATE OF AM.CASSANDRE
Formats
Static (OTF, TTF, WOFF, WOFF2)Language support
Acheron, Achinese, Acholi, Afar, Afrikaans, Alekano, Aleut, Amahuaca, Amarakaeri, Amis, Anaang, Andaandi, Dongolawi, Anuta, Ao Naga, Aragonese, Arbëreshë Albanian, Arvanitika Albanian, Asháninka, Ashéninka Perené, Asu (Tanzania), Balinese, Bari, Basque, Batak Dairi, Batak Karo, Batak Mandailing, Batak Simalungun, Batak Toba, Bemba (Zambia), Bena (Tanzania), Bikol, Bislama, Borana-Arsi-Guji Oromo, Bosnian, Breton, Buginese, Candoshi-Shapra, Caquinte, Cashibo-Cacataibo, Catalan, Cebuano, Central Aymara, Central Kurdish, Chamorro, Chavacano, Chiga, Chiltepec Chinantec, Chokwe, Chuukese, Cimbrian, Cofán, Congo Swahili, Cook Islands Māori, Cornish, Corsican, Creek, Croatian, Czech, Danish, Dehu, Dutch, Eastern Arrernte, Eastern Oromo, Embu, English, Ese Ejja, Faroese, Fijian, Filipino, Finnish, French, Friulian, Galician, Ganda, Ga’anda, German, Gheg Albanian, Gilbertese, Gooniyandi, Gourmanchéma, Guadeloupean Creole French, Gusii, Haitian, Hani, Hiligaynon, Ho-Chunk, Hopi, Huastec, Hungarian, Icelandic, Iloko, Inari Sami, Indonesian, Irish, Istro Romanian, Italian, Ixcatlán Mazatec, Jamaican Creole English, Japanese, Javanese, Jola-Fonyi, K'iche', Kabuverdianu, Kala Lagaw Ya, Kalaallisut, Kalenjin, Kamba (Kenya), Kaonde, Karelian, Kashubian, Kekchí, Kenzi, Mattokki, Khasi, Kikuyu, Kimbundu, Kinyarwanda, Kituba (DRC), Kongo, Konzo, Kuanyama, Kven Finnish, Kölsch, Ladin, Ladino, Latgalian, Ligurian, Lithuanian, Lombard, Low German, Lower Sorbian, Luba-Lulua, Lule Sami, Luo (Kenya and Tanzania), Luxembourgish, Macedo-Romanian, Makhuwa, Makhuwa-Meetto, Makonde, Makwe, Malagasy, Malaysian, Maltese, Mandinka, Manx, Maore Comorian, Maori, Mapudungun, Matsés, Mauritian Creole, Meriam Mir, Meru, Minangkabau, Mirandese, Mohawk, Montenegrin, Munsee, Murrinh-Patha, Mwani, Mískito, Naga Pidgin, Ndonga, Neapolitan, Ngazidja Comorian, Niuean, Nobiin, Nomatsiguenga, North Ndebele, Northern Kurdish, Northern Qiandong Miao, Northern Sami, Northern Uzbek, Norwegian, Nyanja, Nyankole, Occitan, Orma, Oroqen, Palauan, Paluan, Pampanga, Papiamento, Pedi, Picard, Pichis Ashéninka, Piemontese, Pijin, Pintupi-Luritja, Pohnpeian, Polish, Portuguese, Potawatomi, Quechua, Romanian, Romansh, Rotokas, Rundi, Rwa, Samburu, Samoan, Sango, Sangu (Tanzania), Saramaccan, Sardinian, Scottish Gaelic, Sena, Seri, Seselwa Creole French, Shambala, Shawnee, Shipibo-Conibo, Shona, Sicilian, Silesian, Slovak, Slovenian, Soga, Somali, Soninke, South Ndebele, Southern Aymara, Southern Qiandong Miao, Southern Sami, Southern Sotho, Spanish, Sranan Tongo, Standard Estonian, Standard Latvian, Standard Malay, Sundanese, Swahili, Swati, Swedish, Swiss German, Tagalog, Tahitian, Taita, Tedim Chin, Tetum, Tetun Dili, Tiv, Tok Pisin, Tokelau, Tonga (Tonga Islands), Tosk Albanian, Tsonga, Tswana, Tumbuka, Turkmen, Tzeltal, Tzotzil, Uab Meto, Ume Sami, Upper Guinea Crioulo, Upper Sorbian, Venetian, Veps, Võro, Walloon, Walser, Wangaaybuwan-Ngiyambaa, Waray (Philippines), Warlpiri, Wayuu, Welsh, West Central Oromo, Western Abnaki, Western Frisian, Wik-Mungkan, Wiradjuri, Wolof, Xhosa, Yanesha', Yao, Yapese, Yindjibarndi, Yucateco, Zulu, Záparo
About the designers
«La résignation est neuf fois sur dix une lâcheté déguisée: un sursis que l’on demande à la mort.»
Cassandre
Designer
Cassandre was a major figure in French graphic design, known for his energetic approach to typography and his experiments on legibility in his work. Born with two innate tendencies, a need for formal perfection and a burning thirst for lyrical expression, he found it difficult to reconcile the two.
Glyphs
OpenType Features
Capital Spacing
UPPERCASE
offDenominators
H012345679
offFractions
1/4 1/2 3/4
offNumerators
H012345679
offOrdinals
2a 2o No.
offOrnaments
+ − ± × ÷ = < >
offStylistic Alternates
ABCDEFGHIJKLMNOPQ RSTUVWX
offScientific Inferiors
H012345679
offStylistic Set 1
12345678910
offStylistic Set 2
12345678910
offSuperscript
H012345679
offPair well with Acier
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Acier Text Gris Synthese BookUseful type with an edge.
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