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> “There’s an unmistakable energy in all the designs that [Roger Excoffon] does,” said Tobias Frere-Jones, a Brooklyn-based typeface designer. “They project the

> “There’s an unmistakable energy in all the designs that [Roger Excoffon] does,” said Tobias Frere-Jones, a Brooklyn-based typeface designer. “They project their personality so clearly. And it’s very obviously not Helvetica or not Times or any other generic thing that might be on the awning next door.” Excoffon’s most popular typeface is probably Mistral, which was modeled after his own handwriting. Both this passage and Exofon's fonts remind me of Henry van der Horst, a Dutch graphic designer who basically has a monopoly on Dutch market signs. His work has become so ubiquitous that a market stall without it feels less "authentic", so there is a lot of demand for his work. It's crazy: everyone here knows his handwriting, without knowing it was one man doing all of those signs for decades, and when I say "all those signs" I mean that at a national level (altough the Netherlands is small of course). He's like a weird kind of anonymous household name ("anonyfamous?"). Well, until a newspaper wrote an article about him down a few years ago, that is. [0] http://www.willemverweijen.nl/henry-van-de-horst/ http://www.willemverweijen.nl/henry-van-de-horst/ [1] https://www.volkskrant.nl/mensen/-op-de-markt-doet-niemand-aan-jargon-~bc16a6f6/ https://www.volkskrant.nl/mensen/-op-de-markt-doet-niemand-a...

fermienrico 8y ago
“There’s an unmistakable energy in all the designs that [Roger Excoffon] does” This type of analysis bugs me. Yes, with hindsight you can say it has "energy". Give this font in a controlled experiment with many "energetic" fonts to choose from and you'd not say the same thing. There is probably a word for this type of bias - perhaps confirmation bias? There is nothing more to read into this. When a font gets popular in local design circles, restaurants end up tangled in the whatever font trend it happens to be because the designers that they hire are from the same circle of influence.
- vanderZwan 8y ago
  I took unmistakable as meaning that you can recognize an Excoffon font. Which I don't find so strange a claim - they're not exactly minimalist sans fonts, so a lot of personal character will sneak in, consciously or not.
52-6F-62 8y ago
Funny! Reminds me of the old Honest Ed's signage here in Toronto (since shut down). https://www.thestar.com/news/gta/2016/04/01/8-of-honest-eds-most-iconic-hand-painted-signs-up-for-sale.html https://www.thestar.com/news/gta/2016/04/01/8-of-honest-eds-... https://toronto.citynews.ca/2016/10/19/iconic-honest-eds-signs-up-for-sale-one-last-time/ https://toronto.citynews.ca/2016/10/19/iconic-honest-eds-sig...
- rustcharm 8y ago
  Those "Honest Ed" signs are beautiful, and remind me of the hand-painted signs I'd still see in Brooklyn in the late 60s and early 70s (probably nearing the end of the era for hand-painted signs)
  - 52-6F-62 8y ago
    Oh that place was the thing of a bygone era, undoubtedly. Some of those signs are probably from back then, but they retained the style right up until they closed in 2016. The place was a godsend when I was younger—you could get hygiene products and some food items for dirt cheap. And the sight from the street was even more wild than those hand-painted signs: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Honest_Ed%27s https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Honest_Ed%27s
    - rustcharm 8y ago
      Wow! The Mohel and Rabbi who performed Honest Ed's bris was Al Jolson's father: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ed_Mirvish https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ed_Mirvish
- vanderZwan 8y ago
  Gorgeous, the connection is pretty clear, yeah! Makes me wonder if the handwritten signs from the last century couldn't be considered one of those kind of undocumented, almost subconscious arts "traditions". Kind of like how all kebab places seem to follow the exact same horrible aesthetic without it being a coordinated effort.
dylan604 8y ago
[1] link opens up to a Dutch "Accept My Cookies" modal that covers 75% of the screen. That tab got closed without me even knowing what the page looked like. Just shot up into the top 5 of my personal most offensive while being most useless list. Sad, because I was actually curious to see what the page said.
- umanwizard 8y ago
  You could have clicked through the modal. In incognito mode if cookies bother you that much. Get over yourself.
- untog 8y ago
  > Just shot up into the top 5 of my personal most offensive while being most useless list. You could maybe do with experiencing more adversity in life
  - scarejunba 8y ago
    Or not. Why begrudge another’s bliss?
- oliv__ 8y ago
  You spent more time writing this comment than you would've clicking the "Accept" button.
deltron3030 8y ago
I like his number handstyles, they look cool! But the letters themselves aren't that recognizable except the "S" (has a graffiti vibe), the rest are just basic marker tags/block letters. I guess that those numbers always appear with those letters in combination (supermarket price tags), and that this is what's associated with authenticity regarding his works.
sailfast 8y ago
Thank you for this. I never made the connection for market signs. Amazing.
evrydayhustling 8y ago
"anonyfamous" is an awesome word / concept. Looks like a couple of folks are using it as a handle, but I say you go get a book deal now. I'd buy a coffee table book with a dozen examples unmasking anonyfamous folks!
- vanderZwan 8y ago
  Not my kind of work, but I agree that would make for a great coffee table book!
kalleboo 8y ago
Interesting how different countries have different styles. In Sweden, before printing took over, supermarkets would have posters outside with the specials in a style similar to "IKEA Script" https://statics.fontke.com/image/image/314190/360x270.png https://statics.fontke.com/image/image/314190/360x270.png
- vanderZwan 8y ago
  I've noticed that Germany has an unusually high amount of smooth rounded fonts (my friends don't see it and call me crazy). But I just searched for it, and guess what: it's all because of Volkswagen! https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/VAG_Rounded https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/VAG_Rounded

fermienrico 8y ago

“There’s an unmistakable energy in all the designs that [Roger Excoffon] does” This type of analysis bugs me. Yes, with hindsight you can say it has "energy". Give this font in a controlled experiment with many "energetic" fonts to choose from and you'd not say the same thing. There is probably a word for this type of bias - perhaps confirmation bias? There is nothing more to read into this. When a font gets popular in local design circles, restaurants end up tangled in the whatever font trend it happens to be because the designers that they hire are from the same circle of influence.

vanderZwan 8y ago
I took unmistakable as meaning that you can recognize an Excoffon font. Which I don't find so strange a claim - they're not exactly minimalist sans fonts, so a lot of personal character will sneak in, consciously or not.

52-6F-62 8y ago

Funny! Reminds me of the old Honest Ed's signage here in Toronto (since shut down). https://www.thestar.com/news/gta/2016/04/01/8-of-honest-eds-most-iconic-hand-painted-signs-up-for-sale.html https://www.thestar.com/news/gta/2016/04/01/8-of-honest-eds-... https://toronto.citynews.ca/2016/10/19/iconic-honest-eds-signs-up-for-sale-one-last-time/ https://toronto.citynews.ca/2016/10/19/iconic-honest-eds-sig...

rustcharm 8y ago
Those "Honest Ed" signs are beautiful, and remind me of the hand-painted signs I'd still see in Brooklyn in the late 60s and early 70s (probably nearing the end of the era for hand-painted signs)
- 52-6F-62 8y ago
  Oh that place was the thing of a bygone era, undoubtedly. Some of those signs are probably from back then, but they retained the style right up until they closed in 2016. The place was a godsend when I was younger—you could get hygiene products and some food items for dirt cheap. And the sight from the street was even more wild than those hand-painted signs: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Honest_Ed%27s https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Honest_Ed%27s
  - rustcharm 8y ago
    Wow! The Mohel and Rabbi who performed Honest Ed's bris was Al Jolson's father: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ed_Mirvish https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ed_Mirvish
vanderZwan 8y ago
Gorgeous, the connection is pretty clear, yeah! Makes me wonder if the handwritten signs from the last century couldn't be considered one of those kind of undocumented, almost subconscious arts "traditions". Kind of like how all kebab places seem to follow the exact same horrible aesthetic without it being a coordinated effort.

dylan604 8y ago

[1] link opens up to a Dutch "Accept My Cookies" modal that covers 75% of the screen. That tab got closed without me even knowing what the page looked like. Just shot up into the top 5 of my personal most offensive while being most useless list. Sad, because I was actually curious to see what the page said.

umanwizard 8y ago
You could have clicked through the modal. In incognito mode if cookies bother you that much. Get over yourself.
untog 8y ago
> Just shot up into the top 5 of my personal most offensive while being most useless list. You could maybe do with experiencing more adversity in life
- scarejunba 8y ago
  Or not. Why begrudge another’s bliss?
oliv__ 8y ago
You spent more time writing this comment than you would've clicking the "Accept" button.

deltron3030 8y ago

I like his number handstyles, they look cool! But the letters themselves aren't that recognizable except the "S" (has a graffiti vibe), the rest are just basic marker tags/block letters. I guess that those numbers always appear with those letters in combination (supermarket price tags), and that this is what's associated with authenticity regarding his works.

sailfast 8y ago

Thank you for this. I never made the connection for market signs. Amazing.

evrydayhustling 8y ago

"anonyfamous" is an awesome word / concept. Looks like a couple of folks are using it as a handle, but I say you go get a book deal now. I'd buy a coffee table book with a dozen examples unmasking anonyfamous folks!

vanderZwan 8y ago
Not my kind of work, but I agree that would make for a great coffee table book!

kalleboo 8y ago

Interesting how different countries have different styles. In Sweden, before printing took over, supermarkets would have posters outside with the specials in a style similar to "IKEA Script" https://statics.fontke.com/image/image/314190/360x270.png https://statics.fontke.com/image/image/314190/360x270.png

vanderZwan 8y ago
I've noticed that Germany has an unusually high amount of smooth rounded fonts (my friends don't see it and call me crazy). But I just searched for it, and guess what: it's all because of Volkswagen! https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/VAG_Rounded https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/VAG_Rounded