Examples of use of Fell Types, inside or outside a revival context.
David Gray, a newspaper and magazine art director, also owns oddhero.com, a small (for now) company specialising in typographic art. He realized three prints using IM Fell Great Primer & Double Pica setting the text of ancient proverbs. Not intended to be applied today: «We’re not actually this mean to kids, we just think it’s good to remind them how things used to be.»
Modern Linguist is a WordPress template realized by Joel Goodman and designed with National Novel Writing Month (NaNoWriMo) participants in mind: it allows integration with the NaNoWriMo.org word count API, providing dynamic and automatic word count updates pulled directly from the user’s NaNoWriMo profile. Modern Linguist comes with 8 standard, Open Source or Creative Commons typeface options, as well as The Fell Types too that are used by permission. The authors are given the choice of using a font-face that best suits their novel’s mood or tone. The fonts include:
Many of the included typefaces rely on the @font-face CSS3 rule and thus require a modern browser to display correctly.
I’ve been contacted by Marc Kino, Brandmanager / Graphic designer of Biscuiterie Jules Destrooper Zwaanhofweg 20 – 8900 Ieper Belgium. He let me know he used one of the Fell Flowers for the design for the Year End collection 2009. Since he was grateful for my work he wanted to send me some samples hoping I like their biscuits as well as he likes my work. I do! What can I say? It seems he knows me!
Some of the biscuits I received
«In the year of grace 1603, the Scottish follower Sethon Alexander, better known under the pseudonym of Cosmopolite, wrote in Latin a third treaty which completed his testamentary work “Testamentum, De Transmutationibus Metallorum” – Testament or About the Transmutation of metals, which was enriched by his own hand of eleven emblems or “Clavicle.” According to his last wishes the two treaties, through his disciple Sendivogius were actually offered to the public: The philosopher’s stone in twelve treaties in 1604 and Dialogue of Mercury, the alchemist and nature, in 1607, in the same city of Cologne. About this third treaty and according to his last wishes, it was maintained in absolute secrecy and under the custody of the Filliis doctrinæ or Masters of the Hermetic Art, transmitting the most secret sacramentals procedures and practices to the deserving instructors. Four centuries have passed since then. Today, a new spirit in search of truth, combined with a sincere and perfectly disinterested aspiration, seems to emerge in the study of our alchemical art. Following the predicate of Cosmopolite, this quest seems to be an early signal which makes possible and even desirable the publication of the secret treaty. For this reason, the Treaty of Cosmopolite is revealed to the persistent researchers of our time. This book is preceded by a study of CHALYBE about the principal points of mineral Alchemy necessary for a proper understanding of this treaty essential for the alchemical literature which had not been printed yet.» [from the sidenotes]
The has been published in january 2009 by Editions du Cosmogone, Lyon. The book is entirely set in IM Fell English and IM Fell Flowers.
Testamentum example page
The Typographer’s Left Shoe is a book written by Richard McGowan in 2008 that you can find on Lulu.com. The year is 1932. The typographer Jacob Brown, aged 51, once dreamed of having sons to carry on his trade, but has never married. Emily Weldon, the cobbler’s daughter of eighteen, meets Mr Brown while delivering a new pair of shoes. Before long, Emily is assisting in the shop, and soon falls hopelessly in love. With such a vast difference in age, they are hardly an appropriate match. Perusing an old book of Ancient Remedies to learn of love potions, Emily prays they can be together, and calls upon heaven for assistance. Body text set in 12 pt IM Fell English.
The Adult Storybook, released under the epithet New Tokyo Terror, is one part of Joanna Wang’s second album, the whole being titled Joanna & 王若琳, published by Sony Music Taiwan. The album’s name, Joanna & 王若琳, refers to two Joanna Wang’s, hence the two discs. One displays the creative Joanna Wang who writes her own songs. On the other hand there is the performer Joanna Wang who performs or covers works of other artists. Art graphic by Joanna Wang & S.M. Cumberworth. Set in IM Fell English.
The project is not complete but you can find this reconstructed facsimile of an edition of More’s Utopia published in 1684. Book design by Walton Mendelson: “A facsimile edition was impossible from the copy because of the amount of work required to clean the pages to make them easily readable, although the book is in good condition. It was decided to retype the pages. They have been set in IM Fell English. Retyping required fitting each line to the full measure, as in the original, and substituting the appropriate glyphs (for: ct, s, ss, st, sh, si, sl, ff, ffi, ffl, fi, fl)”. You can read the full story on the 12 on 14 Book Design and Art site.
Book design by W. Mendelson for a facsimile of a 1684 edition of Thomas More's Utopia.
Philip Chapman-Bell is an origami designer. He used the Fell Types for his Meditation XVII box where John Donne’s meditation #17 is written in spiral into a 17-sided tato box.
Dimitris Kottas of Cuboctaedro has realized a font themed calendar as he did for 2008. Every month a different typeface is used. The Fell Types on April. This year are featured: Jack Usine SMeltery, Kontrapunkt, Eduardo Recife, Christian Swartz, Jan Gerner, Erik Spiekermann, Silas Dilworth, Mugur Mihai, James Puckett, Jos Buivenga and Elena Albertoni.
