Characters #03

Characters #03 is the third specimag by Character Type—a blend of a type magazine and a typeface specimen. The two were married into one creative space and share some recent type-related thoughts and insights, while introducing Character Type’s newest typeface family Tragic Grotesk. It is now available at Slanted Shop!

For the first time the specimag is published as a double issue: Tragic & Boring. “We create the Characters specimags series out of love and delight for type and print and colors. And we love to see the work of great artists in magazines. So we mix all of the above and hope others are just as elated by the result as we are.” says Character Type’s type director Henning Skibbe.

The Tragic part introduces Tragic Grotesk, a 16 style sans type family inspired by 19th century grotesk typefaces as well as technical typefaces such as DIN. This combination conveys warmth and digital clarity. The specimen showcases the typefaces features and explains the design ideas on 20 pages. The Tragic part was printed on pink 160 g/sm Joly pink paper in Pantone 072 and Pantone Bright red.

The Boring part showcases designers, illustrators, and artists and their ideas on boredom. Whether imposed from outside or triggered by nothing, everyone reacts to boredom. The excesses of human activity caused by boredom are manifold and complex, obscure and exciting. Directly or indirectly: Some of these facets can be found in the works of featured artists Pavel Ripley, Nora Hollstein, Sebastian König, and L’outsider. This 32 page magazine was printed on 170 g/sm Arctic Volume with an additional silver spot color.

The covers were designed by illustrator Sebastian König. He interpreted the two aspects of Tragic Grotesk by having the cover look at the reader with teary eyes which have had a bit too much of digital intoxication. Who hasn’t had a few too many reels and doom scrolls lately? The second cover plays with the effects boredom might have on the mind.

Both magazines are connected with each other through a couple of simple velcro dots.

Characters #03

Publisher & Author: Character Type
Design: Character Type, Henning Skibbe
Format: 20 × 26 cm
Volume: 52 p.
Language: English
Typeface: Tragic Grotesk
Price: 12.– EURO excl. shipping
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