Exposure
A variable axis modeled on photographic light rather than weight or width
Designed by Federico Parra Barrios during his studies at the Atelier national de recherche typographique (Nancy, France) between 2019 and 2022, Exposure translates photographic exposure as a variable font axis ranging from –100 to +100. At zero the forms are sharp; decreasing values fill counters toward illegibility as if underexposed, while increasing values dissolve strokes as if burned by light. Available in Roman and Italic, the family offers 42 static styles and two variable fonts, and won First Prize at Le Club des directeurs artistiques type design award (CDA54) in 2023.
Set in Exposure
Insights
- The single variation axis (–100 to +100) simulates underexposure and overexposure, departing from the weight/width/optical-size axes that have dominated variable font practice since 2016.
- Many intermediate designs were individually sculpted across the full range between the two extremes.
- The concept carries an implicit reference to phototypesetting, a now-defunct technology in which light intensity physically affected letterform edges.
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