Layer Tennis: Peter Bruhn & Mark Simonson
Welcome to the offices of FontShop San Francisco. I’m Stephen Coles, here with designer Chris Hamamoto and font support expert Ivan Bettger. Our friend Nick Sherman joins us from Brooklyn. Nick is a designer, writer, skateboarder, musician, teacher, pizza fanatic, printer, classic horror film buff, and monster wrestler living in New York City. Yes, really.
Two of our favorite type designers, Peter Bruhn and Mark Simonson, are about to begin a match of Layer Tennis and we’ll be providing commentary. Feel free to join in!
Simonson won the always amusing coin toss and serves the first volley.
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99 Comments:
Round 1: Mark Simonson pumps up the jam!
Mark’s first image: looks like demure little Coquette grew some balls!
The balls perhaps a tennis metaphor?
Custom alterations to a typeface get things off to a good start.
First serve… Is that blurred out font in the background just the default glyph set of FontLab? I taste a bit of HR PufnStuf
Peter Bruhn picks apart Mark Simonson’s serve keeping with the food theme.
Quick work by Peter, and I’m happy to see that the purple was not an element he carried over. But now I’m trying to figure out what “jam your ham” means… is there a “That’s what she said!” joke around the corner?
Good call on the PufnStuf Nick. Trippy stuff. New nickname for Stephen though: HR PewfnStewf
Second serve… The page cites Photoshop as the software in use, but methinks FontLab deserves an icon as well.
Glyph-wise, Bruhn went with some relatively safe follow-ups. I’d like to see a g or s
This is such a perfect matchup. Both Bruhn and Simonson have a subtle but biting Scandinavian/Midwestern humor. A cold nordic chill warmed by round curves and funny words.
*refresh*…*refresh*…*refresh*…
Is layer 4 really just a checkered field, or is this an error?
Is it a change of subject? Or is the ‘food more homey’
I don’t hink layer 4 happened yet, but layer 3 just went live. ;) (And it IS looking good, to say the least.)
Bruhn definitely feels comfortable in that soft sans land seen in 1 & 2. His Mustardo/Ketchupa/Mayo are Fountain favorites, and he’s been working on a little secret called Plumpo for years. Let’s see what he comes up with to follow Simonson’s rounded “more homey”.
Ah, an error. Simonson adds some contrast and models the bulbous terminals to more of an Oz Cooper / American showcard kind of feel. He’s smart to pull it toward that early-to-mid 20th century aesthetic in which he is so well-versed. Unless Bruhn returns with a decidedly European alteration, Simonson will maintain a cultural home-field advantage.
Well the home is certainly more homey than the cold confines of FontLab, though this coming from a non-type designer. Funny that Mark went with the classic ’50s American backdrop shortly after PewfnStewf references the Midwest.
So is the sponsor wishing they had a font editor in their product line for this match?
I’d like to think that MS has a FontFeed tab open on his second monitor.
Don’t push the sponsor they’ll take it seriously and release a font editor!
So I guess we’re going back in decades now. Maybe it’ll end with Art Nouveau? :D
Layer 4: Bruhn went way back in time with that terminal e
The totally flat, non-landscaped lawn makes me nostalgic for the Twin Cities.
Peter Bruhn’s soft eyes are lulling me into complacency.
Having spent time with him and his family in his summer cottage outside of Malmö, I can confirm that we are indeed looking at Mr. Bruhn’s forehead. And let me tell you, the béarnaise-lathered open-face meat sandwiches we ate there will lull you into complacency as well.
I believe we’re already back to the 1700s, Johnny!
Bruhn succeeds in Euro-izing the game by adding the umlaut. Simonson might neutralize the affect by moving towards the language of heavy metal with some proper röck döts.
What, are Peter Bruhn & Mark Simonson seriously wrangling actual Bézier curves on Layer Tennis? The madness! These two mean business! =-O
I’m a bit bummed I missed the coin toss and start of the party, as we’re having my very pregnant sister-in-law over for dinner (Layer Tennis started at 9 pm our time, quite unfortunate). So far it’s looking cracking, and completely in tune with our evening here. In the first volley it seemed that Coquette had pregnant finials. The food theme works as well – the chicken tajine with tomatoes and sweet potato I made had no jam nor ham, but more “honey” than probably is good for you (I know, lame). :P
Heavy Metal Umlauts, or maybe blackletter e-umlauts as an answer to the renaissance ‘e’
Whoa! Didn’t see that one coming. I thought Peter was going to feel completely at home with Mark’s “Oz Cooper / American showcard kind of feel”, as Fountain recently released Heroine, a contemporary sans serif interpretation of the very similar Windsor. But no, he resolutely goes square serif, with a daring terminal “e”. Where will this lead to!?
Interesting to note that Bruhn kept the giant bulbous terminal on the r, which retains a hint of the cartoonish feel from round 1.
I’m hoping that Simonson runs with the finial swash and evolves the style more toward a calligraphic italic or script.
No heavy metal. As a Minnesotan, Mark’s gotta see that renaissance ‘e’ as a Prince reference/invite.
WATCH this! I love this Typographic Layer Tennis Match gone ‘Vintage’.
‘major surgery’ in deed!
Mark clocks Peter right upside the head! I’m hoping Peter riffs off those funky inline numerals
Oh, but Peter does sure likes extravagant terminals, giant bulbous or not! ;)
Back to the terminal of the r: it appears as though Simonson has reduced the radius. The dot on the j still carries some weight though. Layer 5 adds some flavorful glyphs, but the changes aren’t as drastic as in previous rounds.
When do we get to see some capitals?
Grant mentioned Peter’s Swedish heritage in the fourth volley, but keep in mind that his lineage originates in Germany, höme tö nümëröus ümlauts!
By the way, props to Simonson for taking on the s. Anyone who has ever tried to draw one knows how tricky it can be to get it to balance correctly. From where I’m standing, Simonson’s has good posture.
I must say I’m quite impressed with Mark’s “a”, “g”, and “y”. Very quick thinking, and clever repurposing of similar character shapes.
Oh, and I totally agree on the “s”, that’s one mother of a character to get right and balanced correctly in such a short amount of time.
There’s people on Twitter complaining about the lack of capitals so far, but come one, be serious! :D You have no idea what they are achieving here.
Don’t know why all these type foundries need to charge so much $$ for fonts when Peter & Mark show how quickly and easily they are made.
BTW Go Grant go, you’re doing a terrific job! :)
John, thou art jesting I suppose. :D
The subtle nature of type design is hard to appreciate in breakneck world of Layer Tennis. I’m guessing the popular vote will lean towards whichever opponent makes a huge all-out stylistic caricature assault.
I’m impressed by some of the Twitter commentaries. Many really get what goes into designing these character shapes on the fly and are picking up serendipitous references, like echoes of Miles Newlyn‘s Democratica and the Emigre vibe in Mark’s fifth volley.
Serifs begone! That i dot is growing to mammoth proportions; thankfully it’s balanced a bit by the o. I like the introduction of the flat horizontal terminal on that s
Bruhn makes another reference to Simonson’s Coquette in with that curious dot-dabbled ‘o’. I’m seeing a lot of jabs at the other fella’s style in this match. It’s a joy for anyone who has been watching these guys work for the last 10 years.
One has to wonder exactly how much Photoshop really needs to be used here. This is mostly a battle of béziers.
The latest incarnation reminds me of Meadow with some more alternates.
Love the nod to various contemporary type designs in the diagonally cut off bulbous terminals on the “s” and “y”.
True Stewf, but then it wouldn’t be quite as sexy. The Photoshop-ery is fairly minimal, so far. They are spending most of the time re/drawing glyphs it seems.
The serif evolution thus far has gone from Pufnstuf bulbousness to Cooper-y some-serif-ness to an un-bracketed Didone to, now, a total sans-serif with hints of contemporary angular modeling on the s and y
Whoa, Mark is packing some (horse) power with that fiery red race car. Well, kiddy power is more like it. :P
Simonson goes oblique with shadows. Bold move. May not play well with the typorati or the photoshoppers. Now the big question: are those optically corrected obliques?
Grant does not disappoint, no siree. Top-notch commentary. As if we’d expect any less from him.
An attempt to win over the crowd that’s asking for more Photoshop work? Plus, our first punctuation mark has been introduced
I would have liked to see him pull out an interrobang instead of just an exclamation point. Now that would have been dramatic‽
A nicely-colored sign painter’s drop shade would be a sure-fire crowd pleaser.
Zach: we can only hope that Peter thought the same thing…
Peter Bruhn responds rather viciously. However, I’m not sure if he’s stating anything beyond criticism.
Ouch! Bruhn marks up Simonson’s volley 5 with penciled design notes, just the way he does with his junior designers at Fountain.
Oh, the humanity! Volley 8 offers rare look inside the mind of a type designer. God is in the details, and he is a fan of type design. The mix of despair and vindication is almost tangible.
I think this round is going to give me seizures. Simonson would be smart to drop the Photoshoppery and focus on some highly exaggerated modifications to the letterforms. Trying to improve the details of what exists won’t wow the crowd.
By the way, how the heck does Bruhn have time to print out and mark up test sheets?
I was waiting for it — finally some smack talk on Type Design Layer Tennis.
Surprisingly few experimentations with the weight thus far.
Perhaps both players are saving their serious swashbuckling for the last round.
Still no caps, what gives? Gimme an R!
I think the effort and the frantic pace are taking their toll. This is no mere Photoshop trickery, this is type design we’re talking here.
FYI, This is what the Simonson end of the court looks like:
Anyone have photos of Bruhn’s office?
I wonder if they’ll shoot for a full 26 character lowercase by the end of the match?
In his last volley, Mark Simonson proves how skilled a type designer he is. Despite the time crunch, he goes bolder and pulls off a legit Clarendonesque ‘s’ while maintaining much of the letterforms’ existing character. This took some serious effort despite the rush, folks. Try simply slapping on slabs and adding weight without doing some major redrawing. It just doesn’t work.
Whoa, Mark is back in full force, strong and self-assured in Volley 9. The suspense is killing me!
I’m starting to feel like Martin Sheen in Apocalypse Now, slowly losing my sanity while switching between Layer Tennis, Twitter, and the comments here.
Note how in #5, #7 and #9, Mark Simonson continually changed his ‘s’–even dared to display it full scale on the last volley. It’s really hard to make this glyph looks right, and I’m impressed by the fact that he managed to design, respond and refine in all three attempts. This is real skills, folks.
I wonder which one of them will have an entire character set done by end of day.
The s in Simonson’s last volley is the cherry on the top of an authoritative serve. Now the question is if Bruhn can follow through with a worthy response.
I wonder if they’ll collaborate to fully realize the glyphs created at this match, due to be released in a year? We have here a sans, slab, serif and italic: the making of a superfamily.
Well, there’s barely eleven minutes left of the day for Peter. ;)
A sweet shoutout to his wife and son in Peter’s closing shot. Looks like he tried to incorporate in the word “bye!” every letter style we experienced during the match. It’s admirable, if not entirely successful. Still, there’s a lot of soul in these shapes. Like a lot of Bruhn’s work, I’d put this on my wall.
I love the exclamation mark!
And where do we get to vote?
Thanks for the additional commentary…it added a whole new layer of enjoyment!
Stewf was right in guessing that the most exaggerated changes were being saved till last. The descender on Bruhn’s y feels a bit odd, and the weight is all over the place, but it’s hard to ignore the interior ball on the b and that rubbery exclamation point. I’m predicting popular vote will swing to Bruhn because of this last move.
I agree with Nick regarding the popular vote. The last volley I think will be a crowd pleaser.
A really impressive showing from both sides!
What a moving conclusion, with Peter’s love of his life walking towards the setting sun with one of their sons. What? Not at all, just some dust that got in my eyes.
Layer 10 is a great finish by PB. It was fantastic to see how quickly the typeface evolved. At first I thought it might be interesting to see a completed typeface come from this. However, after giving it some thought, it is more just an exercise (no pun intended, really) in type design. Impressive, and fast work by both Simonson and Bruhn. Kudos to them for a good show.
Which is a bit unfair to Mark, who did some proper detail work. And that’s what type design is all about. Great match.
Well played by all. I keep going back to layer 3. I love the soft serif. It’s like a warm comforting arm around your shoulder at the end of a long day. Pairs nicely with Peter’s closing layer.
Duh. I forgot to mention Grant. Simply the best commentary.
Mark did some great work, and so fast. Hard to keep up with him.
Tip of the hat to Grant for keeping up with it all! Great job by Mark, Peter, and all involved.
Layer Tennis designing type!? Are you guys freaking nuts? : D
Thanks for the kind words, fellas. Very glad I was able to entertain and still sound like I knew what I was jibbering about. Gadzooks, I’m exhausted.
I was the one to suggest doing Layer Tennis with a font. It was an insane idea on hindsight to make a font at this speed. As some have noticed, Photoshop took a back seat. Thanks to Peter and Grant, Jim and Bryan at Coudal. What an afternoon!
Mark, your idea paid off very well. What an excellent match! Now we all know that the type design process, too, can be fast :)
I should clarify: It wasn’t my idea to do something with letters being passed back and forth (that came from Coudal), but the idea of building an actual font in FontLab and passing a FontLab file back and forth.
Cheers guys – fantastic match. Wish I’d seen this commentary feed during the match as well; great insights here.
Jason
An absolute post-match must-read: Mark Simonson analyses the fonts created during last Friday’s Layer Tennis. To you who were a bit puzzled now it all will make sense.
Beneath The Volley Of The Fonts
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