Gopher: An Interview
Gopher came in at #17 on the MyFonts top selling new fonts of 2019 list! This adorable and super cool typeface was designed by Adam Ladd and contain 48 styles in the reverse contrast style. We talked him to learn more!
What inspired you to design this typeface? Were you designing for a specific use case or customer? Or were you more focused on a particular artistic vision? Or some combination of both?
I wanted the design of Gopher to feel distinct, yet familiar. Altering the traditional contrast balance of a Geometric sans serifs by flipping the weight distribution between vertical and horizontal strokes gives it a more unique look and feel within the genre. While reverse contrast is not new, it is also not overly ubiquitous. The three family options provide different optical sizes and usages based primarily on degree of contrast — from the more subtle text to the more dramatic display versions. Gopher works great for branding, fashion, magazines, and more.
Walk us through the process of designing this typeface. Was there anything different about it, compared to your usual process? Did it come along more easily than others, or were there unique challenges?
Gopher started out as a relatively typical geometric sans serif following rules around proportions, spacing, overall shapes/forms, etc. One challenge was applying the reverse contrast rule to all of the characters, including numerals, punctation, and symbols. The simpler forms took to the reverse styling fairly easily (e.g. O, H), but the curve to straight joins in certain characters (e.g. n, r) took longer. The most difficult to resolve were the diagonal stroke characters (e.g. M, v, w, x) , as I needed to flip the typical left and right stroke weight difference and the narrowing/tapering of strokes as they come together. Overall, it took quite a bit of experimenting and tweaking.
Looking ahead, are there new projects you’re excited about? Anything you haven’t tried yet but are eager to explore?
Yes, I have a few rough ideas on paper (or vector tests). Most notably in development would be a sans serif and script hybrid mix. The other is a complementary hand-drawn script and sans font duo with contrasting condensed and wide proportions.
