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Draft:Optimo

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Optimo is an independent Swiss type foundry founded in 1998 by Gilles Gavillet, David Rust and Stéphane Delgado.[1] In the same year, Optimo launched a website to distribute their fonts digitally, the first of its kind in Switzerland.[2]

History

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First initiated as a student project at the École cantonale d’art de Lausanne where Gavillet, Rust and Delgado were studying,[3] Optimo was initially conceived as a digital platform publishing and selling different items such as photographs, clothes, music, and typefaces.[4] At first only publishing their own typographic productions, the platform evolved over the years into a digital type foundry offering typefaces from designers such as François Rappo.[5] Optimo also collaborates with private clients to create custom bespoke fonts. Such clients include Squarespace, TAG Heuer, Flodesk, Photo Elysée, New York Times Magazine and Art Basel.[6]

Notable Optimo Typefaces

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  • Kabin, published in 1998, designed by Delgado, Gavillet and Rust.[7]
  • Detroit, published in 1998, designed by Delgado, Gavillet and Rust.[8]
  • Cargo, published in 2002, designed by Gavillet and Rust. Originally designed for the visual identity of the music club Cargo at the Swiss national exhibition Expo.02.[9] Cargo was used in 2009 for the brand identity of Roc Nation, Jay-Z’s entertainment company.[10]
  • Executive, published in 2007, designed by Gavillet and Rust.[11] Executive was used by the British music magazine The Wire as their main typeface from 2008 to 2010.
  • Theinhardt, published in 2009, designed by Swiss type designer François Rappo. Named after the German type designer Ferdinand Theinhardt, Theinhardt is based on the study of the origins of sans-serif typefaces emerging from the late 19th and early 20th centuries, including Akzidenz Grotesk. The New York Times Magazine used a custom version of Theinhardt for two years until 2012.
  • Plain, published in 2013, designed by Swiss type designer François Rappo. Plain is used by the American multinational music video hosting service Vevo for its brand identity.
  • Antique Legacy, published in 2020, designed by Swiss type designer François Rappo. Antique Legacy is an interpretation of Helvetica.[12]
  • Apax, published in 2016, designed by Swiss type designer François Rappo.
  • Basel, published in 2021, designed by Swiss type designer Chi-Long Trieu. Basel was initially designed to correspond to the specific need of matching Latin characters with non-Latin typefaces by offering a wide weights range. In 2017, Basel was shortlisted for a Swiss Design Award.[13] The Japanese fashion retailer Uniqlo uses Basel for the brand identity of its Uniqlo U collection.[14]
  • Didot Elder, published in 2004, designed by Swiss type designer François Rappo. Didot Elder is a revival of a typeface by Pierre Didot the Elder featured in a 1819 specimen published by the printer.[15]
  • Genath, published in 2011, designed by Swiss type designer François Rappo. Genath is a baroque typeface based on a 1720 type specimen by Johann Wilhelm Hass for the then Genath foundry, later renamed Haas’sche Schriftgiesserei.[16]
  • JJannon, published in 2019, designed by Swiss type designer François Rappo. JJannon is based on the work of the Swiss-born Protestant printer and punchcutter Jean Jannon.[17]
  • Px Grotesk, published in 2013, designed by Swiss designer Nicolas Eigenheer. Px Grotesk was originally designed for a publication for the German artist Carsten Nicolai. The typeface was awarded a Swiss Design Award in 2008.[18]
  • Rand, published in 2019, designed by Swiss type designer François Rappo. Inspired by The New York School and the work of Paul Rand.[19]

References

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  1. ^ "About Optimo". Optimo.ch. Retrieved 13 September 2024.
  2. ^ Swiss Graphic Design Histories, Multiple Voices. Zürich: Scheidegger & Spiess. 2021. p. 175. ISBN 978-3-03942-020-9.
  3. ^ Maruyama, Arata (2022). Form #1, FormSWISS. Japan: FormBOOK. p. 101. ISBN 978-4-9912720-0-4.
  4. ^ Swiss Graphic Design Histories, Multiple Voices. Zürich: Scheidegger & Spiess. 2021. p. 162. ISBN 978-3-03942-020-9.
  5. ^ Swiss Graphic Design Histories, Multiple Voices. Zürich: Scheidegger & Spiess. 2021. p. 170. ISBN 978-3-03942-020-9.
  6. ^ "Custom Typefaces". Optimo.ch.
  7. ^ 100 Years of Swiss Graphic Design. Zürich: Lars Müller Publishers. 2014. p. 282. ISBN 978-3-03778-399-3.
  8. ^ Blackwell, Lewis; Haycock Makela, Laurie; Makela, P. Scott (1998). WHEREISHERE. London: Laurence King Publishing. ISBN 1-85669-141-1.
  9. ^ Frische Schriften/Fresh Type. Zürich: Edition Museum für Gestaltung. 2004. p. 60. ISBN 3-907065-99-9.
  10. ^ Types We Can Make. Lausanne: ECAL/University of Art and Design. 2011.
  11. ^ "Executive specimen" (PDF). Optimo.ch. Retrieved 13 September 2024.
  12. ^ Paradis, Louise. "Antique Legacy". Optimo.ch. Retrieved 13 September 2024.
  13. ^ Federal Office of Culture. "Basel Grotesk. A functional and global approach to type design, 2013-2017". Swiss Culture Awards. Retrieved 13 September 2024.
  14. ^ Paradis, Louise. "Basel x Uniqlo". Optimo.ch. Retrieved 13 September 2024.
  15. ^ Rappo, François (July 2004). "Radical revival of Historical Typefaces". idea Magazine. 52 (305): 134.
  16. ^ "Genath". Optimo.ch. Retrieved 13 September 2024.
  17. ^ "JJannon". Retrieved 13 September 2024.
  18. ^ Federal Office of Culture. "'Tailor Cuts', three fonts, three books". Swiss Culture Awards. Retrieved 13 September 2024.
  19. ^ "Rand". Optimo.ch. Retrieved 13 September 2024.
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