Clarity
Typeface, 2020
Digital technology changed the landscape of typography and allowed designers to truly experiment with typefaces. One of these typefaces was FF Blur, which took Helvetica and “blurred” it using Adobe Photoshop to give it an imperfect look. For Something Old, Something New, I took the letters of Helvetica and rounded them out in Illustrator to achieve a balance between the two types. Clarity is the result that keeps Helvetica’s professional nature while giving it the rounded curves of FF Blur.
Sketches and Studies
Studies of both FF Blur and Helvetica’s letterforms and FF Blur’s history
Traces of Helvetica that tries to incorporate the rounded curves of FF Blur
Comparing All Three Typefaces
A comparison showing the letters of Clarity, Helvetica, and FF Blur
Detailed Shots
The R of Clarity. This letter was especially challenging since I had to balance the curves of Blur without straying too far from the edges of Helvetica. This can be seen in the bowl of the letter
The W of Clarity. This letter had more adjustments than most as I had to finetune the space between strokes to just have enough negative space