In 2019, the Stedelijk Museum in Amsterdam hosted 'Mr. Gridnik', a retrospective celebrating the life and work of Wim Crouwel – a pioneer of Dutch graphic design. The exhibition’s title referenced the nickname he garnered for his analytical, grid-obsessed approach. For Crouwel, the grid wasn't just another design tool; it was a modernist proclamation, a system to revolutionise communication, as fundamental a tool as a chisel is to a carpenter.
I made the pilgrimage up to Amsterdam and was awestruck to see his work in the flesh. Of particular interest to me was his series of typographic posters he designed for the Stedelijk Van Abbemuseum. Of these, I was drawn to the exhibition poster for 'Beelden in het heden' (1959), which displayed a punchy slab-serif lettering – a rarity in Crouwel's work and perhaps why it piqued my curiosity. Inspired by the poster and exhibition, I quickly got to work, sketching some ideas upon my own grid. The project rapidly snowballed, all still adhering to the grid, but with a slightly more playful character evolving out of this rigid system. And with that, the foundations of Zaft were laid.
Zaft is a weighty display font, full of eccentricity and impact. While rigid in design, there is a playful rhythm and harmony to the negative space, allowing for delicate pockets of air to exist between the heftily compact forms. This is further accentuated by Zaft's hairline letter-spacing. A unique feature worth noting is Zaft's use of contextual ligatures, which form rounded connections between particular glyph pairings. These gentle bridges add a touch of elegance to this otherwise heavy-duty design.
Set your super-families aside and make way for Zaft – unapologetically single-styled. A true modernist at heart. Long live the grid!
