Member News, Typography/Lettering June 16, 2016

Alberto Hernández: Let’s Be FRANK

A custom typeface blends stencils, bright colors and passion

by Lauren Festa

F R A N K is a limited edition typeface designed by London-based designer and art director Alberto Hernández and Bunch. It was created especially for the rebranding of Cerovski, a print production studio in 2013, and later developed into a commercial full character set by Milieu Grotesque.

The sans-serif display typeface follows the formal tradition of lathe-milling, as used for modular stencils through a mono-linear, thick main stroke and geometric rounded endings. Following a talk by Assoc. Prof. Eric Kindel (University of Reading), the team was encouraged to explore the subject of stencils further, and after a very positive response to the Cerovski rebrand, they evolved F R A N K into a font for all to use and play with. F R A N K has 207 glyphs, including a set of alternative glyphs and additional arrows and it is available as OpenType (postscript flavored) and Web Open Font formats.

The team has launched a limited edition pack of 100 to accompany the 100 unique copies of the typeface. The packs contain a 32-page specimen featuring an essay on the history of the stencil by Mag. art. Dr. phil. Thomas Maier, lecturer on typography and graphic design at the University of Art and Design in Linz (Austria), a brass stencil and the digital typeface itself. The specimens also feature embossings, perforations, foil blocking and textured paper to show the typeface at its best, making these very tactile and engaging.

The limited edition pack is available exclusively via type foundry from Milieu Grotesque. *adds to cart*.

Watch the video below to see F R A N K in action and click the thumbnails in the gallery to get a closer look.