Online type foundry of students' fonts from the clever folk at ECAL

The students of ECAL know a thing or two about typography. Shame then that designers or those of a typographically-discerning disposition can’t make use of their lettering, should the students wish them to. But wait! They can. ECAL Typefaces is an online type foundry selling fonts designed by students from the BA Graphic Design and MA Art Direction courses, set up in collaboration with Swiss Typefaces, the brainchild of three alumni of ECAL – Ian Party, Maxime Büchi and Emmanuel Rey.

“[Students’ fonts] are regularly used for ECAL corporate communications (posters, invitations cards, catalogues…), and because of this usage, people often ask to us how to acquire these typefaces, in particular our Headline Fonts,” says ECAL. “This website is here to answer those requests. We are proud to be able to share these fonts with the largest possible audience and to offer a platform for our students, deserving heirs of a typically Swiss know-how." It adds: “The aim of this foundry is to release student typefaces spontaneously and rapidly, in order to represent the ECAL in the current type design field.”

With such a wealth of typography and experimentation, it’s a brilliant idea, and it seems odd not to have seen something similar before. The charming thing about the site is how it encourages users to view the typefaces very much as “student” projects. “Some design oddities may be noticed,” says ECAL. “This is part of what makes the project exciting: a fresh, new, uninhibited look at type design by the young and talented designers of tomorrow.”