How do the Japanese write, exactly? Many people think that the Japanese simply write in “Japanese”. The truth is, however, that they use a fusion of different character types, and most of them are not so obvious. In the following, I provide an overview of the foundations of Japanese writing.

Jonathan Barnbrook is a type and graphic designer known for knitting together these disciplines at any given occasion. His London-based design studio works for international clients all over Europe, in the United States and in South-East Asia. Besides shaping visual identities for the Mystetskyi Arsenal museum in Ukraine, the Mori Arts Center in Japan, or the Art Basel art fairs, Barnbrook is perhaps best known within the design scene for his much-discussed artworks for David Bowie’s album covers. Since 2016, he is a member of the FontFont Type Board. In this interview, Barnbrook talks about early digital type design, what he looks for in submitted typefaces, and the role of the FontFont type library.

Type Thursday is a monthly get-together for lettering and type enthusiasts, with chapters in New York, San Francisco and Los Angeles. David Sudweeks interviews New York type designer Thomas Jockin on starting Type Thursday and making it work as a reproducible model.

Ferdinand Ulrich interviews Marc Schütz on Neue Kabel’s story. Marc Schütz shares insights into the work process of creating Neue Kabel: why the design was revisited and what lessons were picked up from previous iterations, including Klingspor’s original work and ITC Kabel. Watch the video below.

2016 came and went, leaving behind some truly great and rousing releases. Take a moment and look back with us as we wrap the old year and ring in the new.