Sharp Type

Simula is the debut typeface of artist and designer Justin Sloane. Possessing no formal training in typeface design, Sloane’s strong sense of typographic form is coupled with an effortless naivete, resulting in a typeface that is both functional and unexpected. The result of 4 years of drawing and redrawing, Simula became an artistic practice within itself: a mechanical re-interpretation of calligraphic form that flouts convention with every stroke. 

1 weight, 2 total fonts.

A distant echo of the Plantin model and a study in the proportions of traditional Roman Capitals filtered through an outside perspective, Sloane’s approach to the design is both rational and contradictory. This tension is most evident in the lowercase, which achieves a precarious harmony between the softness of its low-contrast stroke ductus and the constructed angularity of its serifs and terminal forms.

Simula Book Italic stroke construction: calligraphy with a fat marker. Heavy, blocky strokes executed with mechanical precision.

A - Sideways strokes create dimpled stress points where forms overlap.
B - Abrupt kinks in the path give the impression of both structure and spontaneity.