Hugo Jourdan

You're a former student of the Ecole Estienne. How did your passion for type design come about?

During my studies (MANAA, BTS, then Licence in Motion Design), I had the chance to work on several typographic projects, or at least with a strong emphasis on typography. And, over the years, I began to develop a growing interest in this field.

Initially, it was the use of typography that attracted me. Then, when I joined the DSAA, my interest quickly shifted to type design itself.

During your training at Estienne, what was the atmosphere like among your fellow students? Have you kept any special ties with former students or teachers?

Our class, as well as the one before us, was very close-knit - it really was a great couple of years, and I've kept in touch with most of them.

On the teaching side, it's hard not to mention Frank Jalleau and Margaret Gray, the two founding figures of the course. They have been a constant support, always available to listen, and deeply invested in our progress.

How did you come to meet Matthieu Salvaggio and Blaze Type? How did the agreement to publish Slussen come about?

After graduating from the DSAA, I took advantage of the summer vacations to relax, but also to make progress on some of my typefaces. I then sent unsolicited applications to quite a few foundries whose work or typographic art direction interested me, in the hope of finding freelance assignments or publishing one of my typefaces under development.

Matthieu responded positively to my e-mail, and in particular told me of his interest in Slussen. At the time, the idea of making it a super-family was already more or less in place, but many of the masters and styles still needed to be revised, improved - or even completely redesigned.

Slussen is one of Blaze Type's flagship typefaces, with a collection of 104 fonts developed over three sets. How did this typeface come about, and how did it develop over time?

Slussen was originally a school project in Margaret's course. The assignment was to design a typeface inspired by the city where we had done our first-year internship. I was lucky enough to spend three months in Stockholm at Stockholm Design Lab. My office was located in Slussen, a huge hub of road, rail and waterway communications, between Gamla stan, Stockholm's old town.

At the time, the building I was working in was at the heart of a gigantic construction site. So, for months on end, I was surrounded by cranes, concrete and workers. So, when I returned to France, it was inconceivable to me not to use all this as raw material for this project.

I'd been wanting to draw a sans serif for a long time, and thought this was the right time to do it. Originally, Slussen had only one style: a Regular. But I had so much fun drawing it that I went on to create a Thin and a Black, to practice my weight skills. Then I thought, "Wouldn't it be cool to have a Condensed too?", so I drew a Condensed, then an Extended, then an Extra Condensed... and to balance things out, an Extra Extended.

The Stencil style was planned from the outset, as a nod to the construction site. The Mono version came at the very end, to further enrich the range of possibilities offered by Slussen. But at no point in the process was Slussen designed to be sold. It was just an excuse to explore and learn new skills.

All in all, I think it took me about a year and a half to achieve the final result. Slussen was completely redesigned two or three times along the way, as my eye sharpened.The Stencil style was planned from the outset, as a nod to the construction site. The Mono version came at the very end, to further enrich the range of possibilities offered by Slussen. But at no point in the process was Slussen designed to be sold. It was just an excuse to explore and learn new skills.

All in all, I think it took me about a year and a half to achieve the final result. Slussen was completely redesigned two or three times along the way, as my eye sharpened.

Would you dream of expanding this family even further, by collaborating with type designers from all over the world to cover other writing systems, and which ones?

Mmh, why not! At least extend with Cyrillic & Greek, but I don't have the skills for that. But if the opportunity ever presents itself, I'm not against it.

Your collaboration seems positive in view of the development of Slussen. Do you have any other upcoming projects with Blaze Type?

For a little over two years now, I've been working at Dinamo, so I don't have the time to get involved in other projects in my spare time.

Which typefaces in the Blaze Type catalog do you secretly admire, and why?

I really like Valerio's work, and Fred's in general. As a typographic engineer today, I can't help but have respect for typefaces with such impressive design space, while managing to maintain such consistency in design.