How an old book inspired 3 students to create this grotesk typeface

With a very interesting, distinct visual noise this project is quirky, strange, masterfully crafted and, well, inspiring. Jacopo Atzori (D8r qVr), Vicky Chinaglia and Matteo Giordano started Anatomia Typeface with the Type Design course at the Poli.Design in Milan back in September 2013. That year’s brief was titled Hi–Res to Low–Res and the students were asked to create some typeface to be used in high–resolution starting from a typeface with a low–resolution.

“We found this old anatomy book (from which the name, Anatomia) printed in the early XX century, set in this ugly scotch face with exaggerated details that made it work in small sizes. Our idea was to bring the skeleton, the proportions and some characteristic aspects into a grotesk–formula based typeface, being that the historical evolution of these modern faces. Big serifs and strong details for the small sizes would become characteristic elements in big sizes” write the creators of the project that was developed over a nine-months period. 

“The design of the typeface followed the rule of keeping the counterform shaped as the original design, while building the outside of the letters in a more geometric way. What comes out of this process is a grotesk typeface with a characteristic dynamism through the texture, with an accentuated stroke modulation.”