For the past year, I’ve been working on-and-off on a typeface revival. I initially stumbled across an old one-off typeface specimen in the depths of the internet, and couldn’t shake it. So I set off on reviving what was then called “Venezia”. I sought to preserve the strange grace and poise Venezia had, but even it out enough to be more contemporarily useful.

Getting to the heart of typeface…

The were a few key characteristics that initially caught my interest about Venezia. The subtle curves and flares that created a flowing movement was one of the most noticeable. The movement of each letter expanded and contracted creating a dramatic thick and thin. The second was the high x-height. At some points the lowercase seemed to blur the line between a minuscule and unicase form. The last being the big “eave” on the capital “A”. All of these characteristics didn’t necessarily need to be preserved, but they we’re the key aspects I experimented and adjusted as I redrew the characters.

Finding “Sauvignon”

Many type designers say that often naming a typeface is the hardest part. A name should (of course) be something that hasn’t been used before, but also should showcase the character of the product.

When naming a typeface I imagine how it will be used. Who is the client that would pick this typeface out of a lineup? What is their attitude? How do they see themselves in the typeface? What is their emotional connection/reaction?

Sauvignon’s namesake is from the wines created using the wild Vitis vinifera grapevine in the Bordeaux region of France, and to be derived from the French word “sauvage” meaning wild. Sauvignon provided the right recognizability, elegance, and semantic meaning for how this typeface felt.

Continued work…

Sauvignon Roman is near completion, but I hope to have an accompanying italic to go with it. Something that is just as wild, but approachable as the roman version. If you like to keep up with the adventures and see other stuff, check me out on Instagram.