Alyssa: Origin Story & Process
Hi everyone, really excited to announce that I’ve published a brand new typeface with Typofonderie.
What is this again?
Alyssa is a dynamic single weight display typeface that brings flair and sophistication to any project, whether it’s a striking logotype, a vibrant magazine spread, or refined branding. The design is an exploration of contrast and control, where bold, exaggerated details are offset by subtle, calligraphic gestures. Balancing calligraphic flair with an incised quality gives it a unique panache, ideal for designers seeking to balance expressiveness with authority.
A little backstory
Earlier this year, I was approached by Jean François Porchez, founder of Typofonderie to design a single weight typeface for their 30th Anniversary. I first met Jean François 12 years ago in New York, where he was my instructor at the 2012 Type@Cooper Condensed Programme. We’ve kept in touch ever since and I’m grateful to know him as a friend and mentor.
The Process
As with all things typographic, good stuff takes time. That also means that most type designers have some unfinished designs sitting in a “drawer”. Given that the design was to be released in a single weight, I pulled a couple of ideas that were more graphic in nature for consideration. The first (the chosen direction) was a little exercise I had made while twiddling with some serif/terminal ideas in Glyphs, and the second was a sketch I had made during COVID that had evolved into a homage of sorts to Roger Excoffon’s Banco.
As I worked on refining and expanding the first idea, I struggled to integrate the swashy character of the R, k and y into the rest of the design. The combination of a bolder weight and very strong terminals felt at odds with each other. I had leaned into a “maximalist” method, trying to cram even more details but clearly it was not working and I was pretty stuck.
Around this time, while digging through my own library of typography books for new inspiration, I was struck by the beauty and effortless panache of the lettering and calligraphy of several masters.
I’ve had sporadic practice with calligraphy over the years but the letters I saw were vibrant and engaging in new ways and I began to see calligraphy as a potential way to solve my design dilemma.
With the deadline looming, I made the painful to decision to start again. The new design, dubbed Athena had a mix of the calligraphic features I’d been ogling with coupled with quirks that I believed would help cement the design as a one-style banger, such as angled legs on the n, m, h (reminiscent of Windsor Elongated), and high-contrast calligraphic joints and construction in the a, g, e. A key departure from the previous design was the decision to lighten the weight — which kept gave the new design an elegance the previous one lacked, while still allowing for a good amount of charming (see quote below) details. Needless to say, it was well received!
Your new design is charming, very well done, totally into the type design atmosphere of the moment — Jean François Porchez (JFP)
Production begins in earnest
It’s really tempting to get lost in the details; explore even more interesting constructions, and add more glyphs. However, Typofonderie had a hard deadline by the end of September which focussed all the energy on getting the details to work together. Why? Read on…
So much of type design is really designing an outstanding system of letters as opposed to a collection of outstanding letters, and certain ideas have been pinned to a future update, such as this wild idea for upright swash caps! I only made a few letters as a sketch but here’s the sneak preview.
That’s not to say the typeface contains no bells and whistles, with a slew of discretionary ligatures, a stylistic alternate G, symbols and even arrows…not to mention, full Western European language support, with more to come in the very near future.
What’s in a name?
Naming has to be one of the hardest things in type design. My original idea of “Athena” was taken, so we settled on Alyssa after the legendary Phoenician queen Élyssa, founder and first queen of Carthage. Much like its namesake, Alyssa carries a regal elegance — its bold yet graceful presence makes it a perfect fit for designers seeking to elevate their work with a touch of history and refinement.
Final Thoughts
As you can tell, Alyssa thrives in large sizes, where its vivid details can fully unfold, creating distinctive word shapes. The design is rooted in typographic traditions but with made with a contemporary edge. Over the past year, I’ve had a newfound appreciation for the work of lettering masters Oscar Ogg, Arthur Baker and Helmut Salden.
Alyssa pays homage to their incredible craft (which is impossible to reproduce in a typeface), but attempts to sidestep the cold perfection of digital type design in favour of lively curves and expressive strokes. The typeface’s large x-height, short descenders, and fluid serifs make it ideal for use in headlines, where it can make a strong impact while maintaining elegance.
Whether used in display or branding, its blend of strength and poise gives designers the flexibility to create bold, memorable compositions with refined elegance. You can see more of Alyssa here, and yes, there are free trials as well if you’d like to test it on a project.
