Alsace is a font designed in reference to the timber frame typical of the Alsatian traditional houses. This building structure first answered to technical principles (triangulation of the timber frames, rigidity of the framework) but the carpenters also included various creative elements with symbolic meaning. For instance, the Mann, is composed with vertical and oblique beams which help to maintain the structure. It takes the shape of a double “K” side by side which recalls the silhouette of a man, legs apart and arms raised to the sky.

The Alsatian timber frames, by their graphic and semantics richness, were the inspiration for the creation of the 2019 Graduation Show at the School of the arts of the Rhin in Strasbourg (HEAR). From an imagined facade, we created a series of drop initials that were part of the visual identity of the event (posters, catalogue, invitation cards, signage etc.).

We wanted to extend this work beyond the initial commission by developing a complete set of characters drawn from these drop initials. The Alsace is edited in two weight (Regular and Bold). Like the half-timbered facades, the design of Alsace is a combination of exclusively verticals, obliques and horizontals lines, always seeking the point of balance between a readable letter and an ornamental form.