Font Designer – Alex Camacho
Interview with Alex Camacho
I fell in love with letters at a young age. As a child, I enjoyed illustrating words and sentences, and as I grew older, I continued to draw letters, both on paper as well as graffiti on walls around Barcelona. After finishing my bachelor’s degree at Elisava in Barcelona, I spent some time in an editorial design studio and realised that my real passion was typeface. I then went on to study a master’s degree at Central Saint Martins in London where I developed my skills as a typeface designer.
How many typefaces have you developed until now?
Three: Die Modularität, De Palo Sans, and Excritura.
Is type design what you are mainly doing? What is your profession aside from type design?
I am a graphic designer working on lettering, branding, typeface design, and illustration. In most of my projects, the alphabet is the main resource.
Excritura was inspired by Antoni Gaudi’s obsession for nature and crafts, which led me to create a typeface using an organic-appearing calligraphy.
Are you influenced by other typefaces by the design of your typeface?
I was mainly influenced by calligraphy. I wanted this typeface to be as unique as possible, so I didn‘t want to look at any other typefaces.
What techniques did you use creating your font and what was the process for creating the design?
This typeface originally developed out of my own research on calligraphy. Before I started to design Excritura, I experimented with different styles and techniques. After extensive research, I decided to create the lowercase letters using a flexible metallic nib. When designing the uppercase letters, on the other hand, I changed tools and used a marker to achieve a more dynamic shape. The combination of both styles gives the paragraph a dynamic effect.
The greatest challenge was the journey to take the letters from the paper to the computer. Digitalising the typeface and taking care of the different technical aspects can be very laborious.
Please describe the look and feel of your typeface.
Excritura is an italic and writing-based typeface characterised by a robust personality. Its dynamic curves and fluent strokes offer a pleasant and graceful reading that simultaneously give vitality to the message being presented. It is designed to be legible in all sizes and, simultaneously, to offer aesthetically-pleasing shapes and details to the reader.
Excritura is a typeface that is in constant evolution, and I am currently working on a bold version. Feedback is always welcome!
For what applications would you recommend your typeface (posters, text, newspapers, advertisements, etc.)?
Excritura was designed to be used with a 10 point or larger size for titles, sentences and short paragraphs. While it is legible in all sizes, when viewed on a big scale the reader can appreciate every detail of the letters.
| • | It was inspired by hand writing |
| • | The vertical lines are characterised by different grades |
| • | The rise, fall and location of the base lines are defined by different measures |
| • | The beginning and end of each stroke is wholly unique, which accentuates the calligraphic feeling of the letters |
| • | Although each character has its own personality, they are perfectly legible when combined |
| • | Just as a person’s hand adjusts the pressure that is applied to a ball point pen when writing on paper, so the thickness of the strokes vary |
| • | Each of the characters are seamlessly connected, which makes the reading of the text effortless and filled with a dynamic, lively feeling |
What was the reason for you to give the typeface its name and what is the meaning?
I was looking for a name that reflects the aesthetics of the typeface, which was also seasy to remember and spelled in different languages.