No.95 Boutique Type Foundry

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No.95 Boutique Type Foundry | 小型字廠

字庫設計是平面設計的領域中不可被忽視的重要因素。作為平面設計領域的另外一個專業分支，字庫的設計與發行通常由字廠和字體公司完成。在凸版印刷時代，大型字體開發公司通常主導著字庫市場。而自數字技術和媒介的發展開始，字庫設計師不再受到高成本印刷機器的限制，可以通過數字字體為客戶提供服務;字體設計工具與人工智能技術的興起，讓字體設計變得更加簡單;互聯網環境與遠程的工作模式，讓字體設計組織的組建越來越便捷......這些因素讓小型字廠的數量不斷增多，並呈現出百花齊放的字廠生態。

小型字廠或許沒有大規模字體開發公司那樣龐大的資源庫，但他們仍然願意花費更多的時間和精力完成每一個款字庫設計，堅持通過個體的創意力量和對字體的熱愛，保持本真的表達，在語言世界裡追求屬於自己的視覺美學。自由而精緻的小型字廠或許也正是這個時代和市場所催生的組織形態——人們願意接納更多元的視覺表達，這些創意組織也更大膽地通過更多樣的形式突破字庫設計的邊界與尋找新的可能性。但不變的是，他們始終維持著對於字庫設計的深入理解與研究以及判斷一款好字體的高標準。通過此期，編者希望字體設計師們無論成長或身處於哪一種語言系統中，都能基於鑽研與探索精神，勇敢地為自己的語言塑造創新的視覺元素，通過更有趣多樣的字庫設計為閱讀世界和平面設計建立新的審美與視覺體驗。

Type design is one of the vital elements in the world of graphic design. As a sector of the graphic design discipline, its design and publication are often delivered by type foundries and type companies. In the age of letterpress, it was usually the big-scale type companies that dominated the market. Since the development of digital technology and media, however, type designers are no longer limited by costly printing machines, providing services through the form of digital types. Type design is made more accessible through advancing tools and AI technology. The internet and remote working, on the other hand, simplify the organization and cooperation of type design. As a result, boutique type foundries are becoming more ubiquitous than ever, forming a diverse dynamic of type foundries.

In the absence of archives and resources like the big players, boutique type foundries are willing to invest more time and energy in each design, expressing their individual creativity and passion for types. They preserve sincere communication in their types, and pursue their own visual aesthetics in the world of scripts. Free and sophisticated boutique type foundries can be considered as organizational form of the current time and market. People are willing to accept more diversified visual expressions, and the creative entities are bold to explore the boundaries of the current form. What is unchanging is the in-depth research and understanding of type design, as well as the strict standard of what is considered good. The editor hopes to convey such a spirit of research and exploration to designers, regardless of their cultural background and language customs, and encourages them to create new visual elements for their own languages, and establish new aesthetical and visual experiences in the world of reading and graphic design through distinctive type design.