Sunny Park

Flore is a serif typeface family based on the letterforms cut by Pierre-Simon Fournier in his dissertation on origin and production of primitive woodcut printing. Fournier, an iconic French wood engraver and typographer, is known for his refined style and decorative typographic ornaments that left a lasting legacy in the world of typography. His contributions to type design were significant, as he developed a standardised measuring system for type sizes and point system. When applying to TypeParis, I knew I wanted to base my final project on something that would be unique to my surrounding and something that I would not be so familiar with. During my visit to Jean François’s studio, I came across Fournier’s dissertation. Typofonderie had published their own version of Fournier, so their deep knowledge of the source would help guide the work and allow opportunities to make something unique. I decided to use Fournier’s work as the primary source for my typeface.

Taking direct cues from the source material, Flore embraces a hybrid approach to translation and expansion contrast rooted in elegance and grandeur of the 18th century aesthetics. Fournier is also known for the extreme contrast between thick and thins and this feeling of high contrast and speed is something Flore seeks to capture and bring into the modern era. The Title weight was interpolated between the Text and Display masters to provide a useful range of contrast for large and small sizes. The proportions of letterforms, especially the uppercase and numerals, were balanced without losing the classic touch.

Available in 4 families – Text, Title, Display, and Flourish – Flore evokes the timeless beauty of Fournier’s original works with versatility. The Flore Flourish family is an interpretation of Fournier’s typographic ornaments available in both upper and lowercase. Expressed through an abundance of organic form and counter-curves, Flore Flourish features blooming serifs that provide contrasting expressions to the sophistication of the rest of the families. While these typographic ornament references were only available in uppercase, Flore takes a loose and free approach to drawing lowercase. The Display and Flourish masters were then interpolated to blend two completely different styles. The results were quite unique that brought new perspectives and territories to be explored and systematically crafted.

Flore ultimately became an exercise in blending the ornate and the functional. The flourished serifs and decorative details are not purely ornamental but are carefully integrated into the overall design, maintaining readability while adding a touch of historical charm and personality. This combination of practicality and aesthetics helped create a typeface that honours Fournier’s legacy while expanding on his work. The search for subtle and nuanced creative expressions has become an integral part of the project that will be adopted to my personal practice. Flore is an example of how historical inspiration can be the greatest teacher – though inheriting from Fournier’s masterful craftsmanship and innovative spirit with an unmatched level of refinement could be a daunting task – but the biggest lesson from TypeParis is that one must not shy away from exploring by hand to create something unique, simultaneously new and familiar.

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