Et bien on a trouvé un SuperExpresso à Barcelone. Si ! Mais il y a un truc : Michele Angelo - alias SuperExpresso - est un italien expatrié à Barcelone.

Ce designer graphique manie bien la typographie organique à la Trochut, mais est également un dessinateur de talent qui mélange la plastique du pop et le grain du psychédélique, des couleurs de velours, des shadings malins avec du tradi par-ci par là pour ne faire pas trop digital et parfait.

What else ?

Bon si vous connaissez pas, en quelques mots : Joshua M. Smith (Hydro74) est un monstre, une star du vecto, avec un style chaotique post-slayer qui ferait le bonheur de n’importe quel ado rebelle ou trentenaire régressif et nostalgique des vieilles covers Iron Maiden (je vous dis pas dans quelle catégorie je me situe).

Et bien maintenant Hydro74 fait des fontes. Évidemment vous ne pourrez pas vous en servir pour faire votre rapport de stage. Par contre ça ira très bien pour faire un t-shirt qui mettra les jetons à votre mamie.

Elles sont dispo sur son shop (pour 20€ environ chacune)

Leurs qualités d’artistes combinées à leur musicalité, esprit scientifique, maîtrise de la physique, de la colorimétrie, en auraient fait des designers, typographes, de génie. Ou alors de geek otakus gavés de soda et addicts de MMO.

En visionnant les créations de Leandro Castelao, artiste argentin, j’ai eu la -rare- sensation de visionner quelque chose de différent dans la masse d’artistes digitaux. Je pourrais vous parler de son efficacité synthétique, de sa connaissance typographique flagrante, de ses palettes du meilleur gout.

Je vous dirais finalement de vous attarder devant chaque création en oubliant tout le reste.

Sur son blog-portfolio découvrez ses créations typographiques et ses illustrations ambiance dark, avec parfois des éclats de couleurs flashy comme s’il remontait à la surface après une longue apnée dans des friches industrielles post-tchernobyl. On se dit que forcément son auteur dispose d’un spectre culturel très large, et d’une vision politique qui transforme le graphisme en narration.

On se demande si ce monsieur écoute du hard-rock, du hip-hop, ou pourquoi pas les 2 en même temps.

Pour les fauchés, il y a 3 fontes en freebies.

J’ai trouvé ce flickr qui montre comment ils travaillent au vert !

Le label a ouvert dernièrement Vallery ,une boutique-gallerie au cœur de Barcelone. On peut acheter en ligne leurs produits (toys, tees, books…)  ainsi que ceux d’autres designers (l’excellent IloveDust vient d’y terminer une expo.)

Jonathan Calugi nous propose des créations le plus souvent en aplats, qui se basent sur ses propres typos ou dingbats.

Il joue avec la répétition de motifs dans un mélange bauhaus-pop digne des meilleurs crémeries suisses (comment ne pas penser à BD).

Le cerise sur le paté : Jonathan met à disposition plusieurs de ses sets de fontes. Je suis déjà fan de la Disco Fat et de Hand Love.

1/ Can you make a brief description about yourself ?

My name is Svetoslav Simov and I am 24 years old, Bulgarian. I was born on the 27th of September in Novi Pazar City and up till 2003 I lived and studied in the city of Shumen. I finished my high school education in the Shumen High School majoring in Biology and Chemistry. I then decided to apply for the Technical University in Sofia.
To achieve my goal, I took intensive courses in drawing and I was eventually placed into the supplementary admission group.
I then moved to Sofia and worked actively as a designer for about three years. My job at Clipart-design.com was a very good foundation and starting point for my career and in the beginning I worked from home on various projects. The work was very intensive and for a very short period of time I accumulated a great deal of valuable knowledge and experience. This was a time when I basically built up the qualities which help me in my work today. My work then involved the design of clipart packages, icons, logos and so on. I was making an average of 100 vector images a day and on certain days, I got as far as creating as many as 250. It was at this point I began to enforce self-discipline and control regarding work habits.
I’ve been working in the “Idea” creative agency in Sofia and deal mainly with the design of fonts for the company and creation of logo brands. I am still piling on experience and am developing strong and steady.

What excites me most about my work is creation of fonts which is a source of great pleasure and inspiration for me.

You will soon have the opportunity of also seeing lots of new stuff from my work.

2/ Is Fontfabric a side project or do you plan the foundry to be your fulltime activity ?

The Fontfabric project was created at the end of 2008. Currently I am working in an advertising agency in Sofia, Bulgaria. I can devote few hours after work to create fonts. Right now I can`t  dedicate all of my time to make the typefaces, but I`m planning to do this as soon as possible, and than I`ll develop the Fontfabric into its full capacity.

3/ What is your font design process? (paper sketch, mac/pc, software)

Creating fonts is very interesting and attractive to me at one hand, and following tight the typography and design rules at the other. The fonts I am making are more conceptual kind of design than holding the boundaries. Everything

I do begins from a circle or a square in Corel Draw and a dose of inspiration, than it finishes just few hours later.

Now the whole process is digital, but when I begin to make classic typography, maybe I`ll use sketches and hand techniques.

4/ Where is your major inspiration coming from ? Other foundries you enjoy ? The design scene in Bulgaria ?

When a designer is in a certain environment, it will surely impact and shape his aesthetics and designs. I don`t remember certain sources of inspiration, but my purpose is to create typefaces, which are distinguishing from everything else and have their own image. In the beginning everything was like much fun to me – I was just playing with vector shapes and letters. Gradually it began to show that it could be a business. One of my favourite font foundries that came to my mind now is the Argentinian`s Sudtipos (http://www.sudtipos.com/). Their works are in different style from my fonts, but I often like to do things in different styles, even unlike my usual manner.
One of my goals is to include more people in the development of Fontfabric, mostly Bulgarian designers. Short time ago there was very good type designers (in Bulgaria), but they never came together in something like a font foundry.

5/ Watching your fonts, it seems you have not only type design skills, but also a special taste for illustration/art directing.
Do you have any other graphic design projects you could tell us more about ?

Till now I had cultivated skills mainly in the graphic design, more certain – developing branding and visionary for companies. This is the other field, where I believe my abilities and experience are strong. Exactly the long hours working as a logo designer had built in me routines, which are irreplaceable in the work with typefaces. At this moment I am collecting and filling my own portfolio, which I`ll publish soon.

Thanks for your time. Be sure we’ll keep our readers tuned with your newest creations.