Typeface Design for Lineto
From client identity illustrations in 1995 to a fully revised typeface in 2022
LL BIFF originated in 1995 when Jonas Williamsson drew letterforms in Aldus FreeHand for a client identity project, later producing a minimal uppercase-only headline font in Fontographer. Published by Lineto in 1999, it stayed in the active catalogue—unlike other typefaces in Lineto's recent revival project. In 2022 Anatole Couteau redrew the shapes, corrected compromised outlines and irregular highlights, completed the character set, and developed an Outline cut with Williamsson. The Outline style incorporates graphic illustrations referencing Michel Jarland's new age-themed dry-transfer typeface Astral (Mecanorma, 1971).
Insights
- Letterforms derive from early New York graffiti throw-up style; the name references both the Swedish adjective 'biffig' (beefy, chunky) and Williamsson's own graffiti alias TIFF.
- Original drawings were made as individual illustrations in Aldus FreeHand before being converted to a font in Fontographer.
- Unlike other Lineto revival-project typefaces, BIFF had remained in the active catalogue since 1999; the 2022 work was a formal makeover and expansion rather than a reactivation.
- The Outline cut's added graphic illustrations explicitly reference Astral by Michel Jarland (Mecanorma, 1971), connecting the revival to dry-transfer-era decorative type history.
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