On 31 May 2025, the Now25 conference will take place in Paris. Join us, to listen a mix of inspiring speakers evoking topics as broad as graphic design, web design, motion design, publishing, visual identity, communication and type design. If not already done, register now to take advantage of the best rates.
It seemed interesting to us to make you discover the profiles of our guests. Discover Franz Hoffman & Francis Chouquet’s interview.
Franz Hoffman is a designer-turned-entrepreneur and cofounder of Fontself — born from Hoffman's belief that typography is a powerful medium that should be democratized. As a creative who was frustrated by the complexity of typographic tools, Franz started an independent research project in 2005 to explore how modern software and new graphic technologies could better serve the needs of other designers.
Francis Chouquet is a type designer and lettering artist whose everyday work focuses on typographic illustrations for outdoor, sport and mental health apparel. He draws on influences from American lettering styles from the 40’s to the 70’s, with an emphasis on joyful, funky, and deconstructed forms.
Interview
What does a usual day look like for you?
Franz Hoffman A couple minutes of breathing exercise to slowly activate each part of the body. A small trick to get started without rushing straight into the day. The first and the last parts of the day are usually checking user requests on the support channels: I just love having these daily conversations with our user community. As for the rest of the day, I don’t have any routine (I actually loath routines) Not the most productive way to work, but I learned to just “vibe working”: doing whatever seems right at whatever time.
Francis Chouquet I need a coffee first and then I go for a small hike with my dog. The first thing I do is create. I am most creative in the morning, so I take the first part of the day for me, for being creative. So I draw or I paint. But no computer involved. Then, around 11AM, I check emails and social medias and spend the rest of the day on different projects.
How would you describe your style of working?
Francis Chouquet I try to not work from home because it mixes personal and pro life. So I have a studio and sometimes I also go in town to cafés. It feels a bit like socialising) I do listen to music a lot while working and my favourite musics will be jazz and ambient electronic music. It really helps me to be in the zone. I prefer working by myself because I can control every stage of a design. But having good feedback or input on the work I do is really important too.
Franz Hoffman I like complete freedom: that's the best set up for me. I can't help but to switch from a desk in my home office to the kitchen table, or even lay my laptop on the floor in the living room, and then go brainstorming by walking in the forest next to my place. I don't mind working in bars or trains either, as the surrounding noise creates a bubble in which I can totally focus. I usually listen to music whenever I need to go into the creative flow, specially for visual design. Electro-rock, electro-punk or wtf songs are usually my fav picks.
“Every tool has its own intended purpose, but we believe that creatives can be actually quite imaginative in how they use or subvert various tools to create their own typefaces.”
– Franz Hoffman
What do you do to step away from work?
Franz Hoffman Cooking for family & friends, martial arts & freeform dancing are vital to me to power the body, the mind & the spirit.
Francis Chouquet Oh yeah, I have to step away every day, I go hiking, I run a lot, but mostly I try to spend a maximum of time in nature.
What drives you to create new typefaces or lettering work?
Francis Chouquet Something fun to do. If I see a nice lettering work, something a bit special, I want to try to turn it into a font. And make special things like ligatures, different character sets, etc.
Franz Hoffman So our goal at Fontself is simply to help anyone who wants to turn their individual qualities into a unique typeface. This is an infinite pool of creative content, and with my cofounder Mohamed Ghenania, we dedicate our work to unearth it with this beautiful medium that is typography.
Do you ever feel “too comfortable” with your work?
Francis Chouquet Oh no, I never feel too comfortable, I try to be as much as I can in a zone where I feel confident enough to do a good work but where I can also try new things. I have doing the same things all over again.
Do you find social media or other information sources to be useful for your own creative process?
Francis Chouquet I try to avoid checking the news because it makes my anxiety raise. Over the time I also learned to focus on my own work and not get disturbed creatively by trends on social medias. But I check my Instagram timeline daily and bookmark everything that could inspire me. I closed my Twitter account recently and just use Instagram even if lately I tend to not post that much. The link between my community and me seems a bit broken due to the constant change of algorithms. So now I focus more on my newsletter which is on Substack. It gives me a window to give news but also and mostly share my process and thoughts.
Franz Hoffman I try stay away from mainstream media like TV, online shows or social media (not easy one) and try to favor books and long-form articles that provide more depth, to get into the weeds of things. Social media platforms have broken their promise over the years so we are far less active nowadays both professionally and personally. As it's now a constant race to capture attention, we prefer focusing our efforts on our users needs, and to ensure they can truly enjoy an app that they would wanna recommend to their friends.
In what ways do you see the type market evolving today?
Francis Chouquet To me, it seems that the lettering market felt down in the recent years. The trend is a bit over. I still have many projects in outdoor industry but overall it is not as good as it used to be, 7 or 8 years ago. And for fonts, I feel like the market is saturated with choice. And with subscriptions like Adobe Fonts, it is difficult to indépendant foundries to thrive.
Franz Hoffman As more and more people can start crafting their own fonts, we believe there could be a Renaissance in DIY typefaces, not only in terms of shapes, but also for new use cases.
Are you rather one of those who draw or redraw type classics, or those who seek to totally invent new forms?
Francis Chouquet I don’t do type classics. I prefer experiment new forms and shapes. Try things weird. And see if it works. I am more of an artist so yes, it is all about experimenting new things.
How do software tools and their rules shape type design today? Do you think AI will change this?
Francis Chouquet Software are just tools to me. I use mostly Fontself (iPad and Illustrator) and Glyphs. And with that combination, it gives me enough freedom to do what I want to do. I don’t think I have the knowledge on AI yet to see how it will impact our jobs.
Franz Hoffman Every tool has its own intended purpose but we believe that creatives can be actually quite imaginative in how they use or subvert various tools to create their own typefaces. Fontself was actually created because we wanted simpler tools that could mimic a more intuitive workflow. But it turned out the people crafted a wider range of typeface designs than we initially thought. AI will change any creative process and type-making won’t be spared by automation, so it's difficult to know how value perception will evolve as well. But crafts, taste and curation will definitely matter in your world where everything is possible, all at once. And as font discovery and distribution will be just as critical as they are today to value content, the story behind each font might become a stronger differentiator in a crowded AI-saturated market.
How can type designers and font software developers influence each other?
Franz Hoffman Professional type designers and consumers have very different needs so we don't believe there’s a one-size-fits-all in terms of font editing software. They are actually even different niches among each audience which could advocate for a wider variety of dedicated font creation tools, but the common challenge is how do you make them financially viable.
Francis Chouquet Working with Fontself, their iPad app really changed many things to me and opened the idea to create a font to many more people. This is really a game changer. It can be useful to type designers in order to start projects, sketching and be a good tool for graphic designers to create handmade fonts for client projects or for side revenues.
Any particular standout projects for specific clients or areas of interest?
Franz Hoffman Some of the most fulfilling projects we've seen from our customers range from personal fonts designed for a single private use like a birthday present, to alien fonts for indie sci-fi novels, typefaces for some Marvel Comics, blockbuster movies, or even social workers who designed custom fonts with teenagers. We’ve also been lucky to take part into impactful projects for the community at large, from the Gilbert font to helping design schools that worked on dyslexia-friendly fonts.
Francis Chouquet I am really involved with the outdoor industry and I love to work with companies on lettering projects where I can share my love for Nature and how it can be important nowadays for our mental health
“Working with Fontself, their iPad app really changed many things to me and opened the idea to create a font to many more people. This is really a game changer.“
– Francis Chouquet
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What made you choose to pursue a career in design?
Franz Hoffman When I was in art school, there were a couple folks who helped in very different ways. One teacher showed me everything I wanted to fight: elitism, sectarism and dogmatism. And two others showed me everything I wanted to embrace: freedom, independence, and determination to thrive on your own.
Francis Chouquet As many people, I did draw a lot when I was a kid so it made it logical to pursue a career in that direction.
Who were the teachers, mentors or professionals who had the most impact on you?
Franz Hoffman When I was in art school, there were a couple folks who helped in very different ways. One teacher showed me everything I wanted to fight: elitism, sectarism and dogmatism. And two others showed me everything I wanted to embrace: freedom, independence, and determination to thrive on your own.
Francis Chouquet If talking about lettering and fonts I would say House Industries and particularly Ken Barber.
Do you sketch or draw before moving to digital?
Francis Chouquet I mostly sketch and if I work on a font project, I will go quickly on the iPad to use Fontself to see how my sketches look like and how to develop the rest of the characters.
Franz Hoffman I still do sketches & notes on napkins or bus tickets, and whilst I’d love to have something that truly feels like digital paper, I am at ease on an iPad. But the day someone invents a truly flexible HD e-ink surface one can fold into the pocket, I’ll gladly jump onboard.
Do you have advice for someone who wants to become a type designer or lettering artist?
Francis Chouquet Make something you want to do, you like doing. Don’t think too much about making money. And in a saturated market, it is what makes you different that will make you stand out. The best example to me is James Edmonton from OHno Type.
Franz Hoffman I guess whatever the job you aim for, follow your passion. If you enjoy what you do and are determined to spend as much time as you can to investigate this specific field, you’ll be unstoppable. Learn to try different thing (a lot) and to learn fail (a lot more, it’s part of the learning experience, so don’t be afraid of that one either). And the last piece of advise would to provoke luck: dream big and make sure you put yourself on the right path (get out of your comfort zone, dare to make the extra phone call or go meet people in person, you’d be surprised how these simple things matter in the real world).
What will be the message you would like to convey during your Now25 talk?
Franz Hoffman That font creation is a wonderful way of expressing yourself, and purchasing font creation tools is the best way to ensure the creative community gets a variety of passionate folks to craft such wonderful toys.
Francis Chouquet That making fonts can be fun and funky.
Thank you very much Franz and Francis!
– Interview by Burke Smithers
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