Welcome to issue #15 of The Dinamo Update! In this monthly newsletter, we’ll be continuing to share the latest ongoings at the studio in five or six parts.

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Uhm…? Better use those forensic tools sourced around Hermannplatz 😎

aha, now back to the books...

When French engraver Nicolas Jenson first developed his roman in 15th Century Venice, the highly legible typeface become famous for out performing everything else. In 19th Century London, William Morris then reinterpreted Jenson’s roman for his Golden Type, a celebration of craft aesthetics from the past and a typeface that questioned society’s reliance on technology.

Old Style serifs haven’t been as in vogue the last years (sharper, less historical serifs are more in favor), and so Marist picks up some of Morris and Jenson’s threads—fine tuning their forms for contemporary eyes and digital libraries.

a little more serious, bitte? Just want to see the fonts!

Marist is a relaxed, reader-friendly font with prominent serifs and wide uppercase proportions that take their time. Small moments in the terminals gesture to the Old Style genre’s original inkwells, and certain characters—like the capital M—stand out with their distinctive double serifs.

A note on the artist

Seb McLauchlan is an independent designer originally from New Zealand and based in London since 2015. He’s been one of our closest friends and collaborators since the early days of Dinamo, and he’s also the artist behind ABC Ginto and our upcoming ABC ROM. As well as designing type, Seb works as a graphic designer and currently teaches at Kingston School of Art.

Alongside receiving many notes on Marist from Dinamo’s Johannes and Fabian, Seb also thanks Kris Sowersby from Klim Type for his feedback and Rob for producing the font.

-> Crack open the Early Access lock and run!

Inside your Cargo, you can now flex and stretch:

• ABC Arizona
• ABC Diatype
• ABC Favorit
• ABC Gravity
• ABC Monument Grotesk

How To Use Dinamo VFs on Cargo:

Cargo’s own Folkert, Matthew, Daniel & Josh described the new variable set up for us:

“A significantly lovely reason for using variable fonts on Cargo is that it reduces the amount of files required when loading a website. Non-variable fonts require each style (i.e. Regular, Bold, Italic, etc.) to be loaded as individual font files; with variable fonts, only one file is needed. Each style is now simply an instance—a point on a continuous range. Overall this makes the website transparent and light—which of course is what is wanted.”

Thank you to everyone at Cargo for this growing partnership!

New sticky hardware just dropped. We should have done this a long time ago. 🐭 👻

Each pack is customised with a handwritten note from Mati, Johannes, Immo, or Sascia. Stickers look great on bright background and shitty on dark ones. Get them while stocks last.

-> Two stickers per pack
-> One in 3cm x 10cm and the other 1.5cm x 10cm.
-> Featuring ABC Maxi
-> Printed with transparent doming to maximise swag 🔥
-> €8 / $10 incl. shipping

P.S.

Johannes is giving a type design lecture and “first steps” workshop at the newly opened Apple store in Berlin. Amongst other things, it’ll explore how to develop fonts using the Apple Pencil and iPad. The event is open to everyone and you can RSVP via apple.co/dinamo-typefaces. Travel with J from Neukölln to scary Mitte and watch him sweat in his thrifted blue jeans and black turtle neck...

• ROOMIES is opening on May 20th at our own D1n4m0 D4rkr00m gallery in Berlin Kreuzberg. There, artists Klara Kirsch and Kim Schönauer will share their thoughts on living space and how it’s become a production site over the past two years. In their fictional scenario, it’s as if the two artists have cleared out the rooms in their shared apartment and moved to Schinkestrasse 9. Curated by Sebastian Peter.
• Apparently only 9% of clients believe that design studios influence their companies at the very highest level...
• Congrats on the BF soft launch: How business-speak is becoming part of the language of our private lives.
• Johannes also has an interview and typeface sketch included in Gerrit Rietveld Academy’s new alumni publication, Silly Amateur Don’t Cry. Thank you William Becker and Łukasz Matuszewski for the pleasant conversation 🛵
• Applications for the 2022 Atelier National de Recherche Typographique grant are now open. Awardees receive some time and space for their own type investigations.
• Speaking (before) of Seb, his students at Kingston School of Art have launched their own type platform, 2000UPM, to raise money for their upcoming grad show. Please show support if you can!

Thank you for checking in with our latest issue of The Dinamo Update. You can read all of the back issues in our archive.

Speak soon,
Team Dinamo 🐳