Scrabble Typography Limited Edition

Last month I came across this beautiful limited edition of the timeless letter board game Scrabble. The A-1 Scrabble Typography Edition is designed by Andrew Clifford Capener, co-founder of 755 Marketing and Kneadbe.com, who lives and works in Southern California. On his website he explains that the purpose of this project was to revive an old, but loved game. The idea was to excite people about typography by giving them the ability to choose what typeface their Scrabble set would come in.
A short interview.

How did you come up with the concept of doing a typographic Scrabble?

Andrew Capener | “The idea actually began for me as a school project, that I didn’t finish before the class ended. Excited about the idea, I continued to develop and grow the concept. It soon grew into something much larger than I originally planned when the internet world caught hold of the set and I began to receive an unbelievably positive response. My intention all along was to give the beloved game of Scrabble a bit of a twist. Having a love for typography made me gravitate to the idea of offering Scrabble sets with custom typefaces. Months later Hasbro teamed me up with one of their high-end licensees: Winning Solutions and soon after The Scrabble Typography Edition was born!”

Can you share something about the production process?

Andrew Capener | “The great thing throughout this whole process has been how much the “people” have really outspoken and made this a possibility. I thought in my wildest of wild dreams someone would see this and think it was cool. I never thought in a million years that it would actually go into production. With such a high number of requests to purchase the set, Hasbro had no choice I think but to say yes. It’s just been so amazing for me to stand back and see a product like this taken to market simply because people spoke out about it. That’s how this whole process has even been made a possibility.

The other wonderful thing about the actual production process, has been the fact that I have had nearly a year to look at, think about, and revise the original prototype that I created. With that being said, the actual set that people are purchasing is in a sense a second, more perfected version of my original. We have made some minor adjustments that will make the set all that more easily used and more visually pleasing.”

Is there a certain system to what typefaces were used for which letters?

Andrew Capener | “There was a definite process in selecting the characters we wanted to use for each letter. I spent weeks looking through forums, galleries, on Typophile and anywhere else I could find a list of designers’ favourite characters. In the end we went with a blend of classic and modern characters, which I think works well together. We went through many revisions to finally select the characters we did. The hardest part was ensuring that each possible letter combination looked great together.

At this point I can’t tell you exactly which typefaces we have used, although this information will be released in the coming weeks. The faces will most likely be announced with the final product images. Also the hope is that there is enough demand for people who want to order a set of tiles in the font of their choice. We want to provide that option for people if there are those who would like to customize their typographic Scrabble experience.”

So the “standard” version has a mix of typefaces on the tiles, but customers can request a version with all tiles in one single typeface?

Andrew Capener | “Exactly. The Limited Edition set comes with an assortment of typefaces. There will be the option to order tiles in your favourite typeface down the road as well.”

The set will be available in the typeface of your choice or with an assorted font pack. Additional font packs (including your favourite typeface) could be ordered through Scrabble’s website. The scrabble board and interior box are made out of solid walnut, and the exterior box is made from birch. Each of the 6 board pieces is magnetized to fit together perfectly and each piece slides nicely into its respective slot in the box and is secured by interior magnets as well. The interior of the exterior box as well as the bottoms of the 6 board pieces are lined with cork, to protect them while in use.

Tags: board game, interview, limited edition, Scrabble