Janna Barrett

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Design Process

I am fascinated by objects from the mid-1900s—products, packaging, furniture, cars, music, etc. I don’t know why exactly, but I think it has something to do with the history that old objects possess. You can tangibly see and feel their age and get a sense of their stories.

I wanted my typeface to reflect my love for this era, and also my love for music, which is one of my biggest inspirations in design. The concept of visually illustrating movement and melody is quite interesting to me. I decided to focus on the classic jazz era of the 1950s–1960s and to create a typeface typical of such albums.

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Key Characteristics & Features

High contrast, especially in the bold weight. I think of this as the rhythm of the music—the “beats and notes” are the strokes, and the “rests” are the serifs.

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In Use

Although my intention for the design was music-related, the finished product is versatile enough for many display uses. I personally enjoy abstracting typographic forms and finding different ways to use them rather than for setting text, and this typeface lends itself well to that function too.

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Conclusion

I thoroughly enjoyed my experience of Type@Paris! I learned so much and plan to put my education to good use creating more typefaces in the future. I plan to design only display typefaces, and to do them as personal projects rather than as a profession. I can’t wait to finish Bananova according to my perfectionist standards :) and to release it into the world!

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