Stash: An Interview

We sat down with Jason Vandenberg to learn more about Stash, the #12 bestselling new font of 2019 at MyFonts.

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 was inspired by classic hand-lettered logos like Coca-Cola, Cadbury, Harrods, Kiehl’s and many others, as well as several amazing contemporary lettering artists. I wanted to create something that designers could use to build similar looks and have several alternates to really customize their logo.

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?

The process began with developing the basic structure of the font, while at the same time collecting many hand-lettered logos and samples for inspiration. I would then test the font by trying to recreate these samples. The Coca-Cola logo, was particularly fun to explore. After adding many alternates, swashes and tails, the character set felt robust. The next step was to create the Vintage Cut, which I wanted to look worn and not too rough. After some trials, I found a method for creating the worn look, which utilized Adobe Illustrator. I have since been exploring faster methods for creating this look directly within Glyphs.

Looking ahead, are there new projects you’re excited about? Anything you haven’t tried yet but are eager to explore?

Currently I have a few Sans Serifs on the go. One will be hand-lettered, with the worn look and many alternates. I’m excited to see the response to this one.