LAUTNER
2023Borrowing structural forms from John Lautner’s architecture, Lautner is a typeface that creates a system of building blocks designed to pair with photography of his iconic mid-century homes in southern California.
Different components of the typeface’s anatomy honor the individuality of a particular architectural site. If multiple parts are found together in one letterform, the building blocks harmonize under one voice that speaks across the lines of type in use.
Although all of John Lautner’s homes are capable of standing alone as a unique structure, independent from the rest of his projects, the same mind and level of skill are reflected in the profiles of each home.
I enjoyed collecting scans of photography books and drawing over cropped pictures of John Lautner’s homes. Interestingly enough, almost every house created an F, 5, R, or E that I was able to make sense of in my mind.
I then prioritized identifying a kit of parts that could be used to create a new letterform anatomy. Searching for literal letters of the alphabet in Lautner’s homes would call for designing font styles that matched each one-of-a-kind house (an idea that probably won’t go away until I do it).
In the making of Lautner, I did not expect to spend a month hand-drawing 36 intricately designed characters of type to realize that successful fonts come from letterforms that work together, rather than ones that act as line art on their own. I reserved space for these characters within the type styles of the Lautner family because they are the blueprint for the display face.
