Signature is a group of colleagues and friends professionally engaged in the creation of new alphabets. Already in 2008, Rostislav Vaněk, the professor and head of the Studio of Graphic Design and Visual Communication at the Academy of Arts, Architecture and Design in Prague, offered collaboration to Tomáš Nedoma. He digitised the first working version of Quodlibet typeface as his dissertation at the Tomas Bata University in Zlín. Aktion typeface was Roman Černohous’s dissertation in the Studio of Typography at the Academy. A year earlier, in 2009 Roman Černohous digitised a sans serif version of the Base alphabet, the exposed skeleton of Giambattista Bodoni’s classic Antiqua, within the framework of a studio project, Giovanni, assigned by Prof. Vaněk. The project started the process of typefaces’ digitisation. Roman Černohous digitised Corridor typeface as well.
The very title of Signature emphasises the creator’s contribution and responsibility for his own signed products. Rostislav Vaněk’s sketches followed by thorough drawings are the basis of the whole working process. Each drawing is then digitised by individual members of the group. The partnership is always stated with each typeface. An excellent Czech type designer, František Štorm, digitised Clara typeface. Another very experienced graphic designer and typographer, Marek Pistora, digitised Meridianus typeface. Tomáš Nedoma digitised all other alphabets.
The main credo at Signature is to create large typeface sets of one family and thus offer graphic designers a complete set for a wide-ranging use. Typefaces are endlessly studied and corrected even in the tiniest details. The emphasis is on legibility, particularly on small scales. Therefore, typefaces’ metrics are looser. With larger scale typefaces, it is expected that the experienced designer will set the brightness of the typesetting in accordance with his intention. At present, there are usually sans serif and serif versions of large sets of classic alphabets.
