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Midnight Umbrella

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Located in Worcester County, MassachusettsFrom Worcester County, MA

Pool Tile Sans

DIPPING TOES INTO THE DISCIPLINE OF TYPE DESIGN

Pool Tile Sans specimen chart arranging geometric letters, numerals, punctuation, symbols and ornaments in a grid of pink tiles on dark purple.

A GOOD PLACE TO WADE IN

Type design might as well be sorcery

As a seasoned typographer, I’ll be honest—the discipline of type design might as well be sorcery. Pure magic. So many moving parts.Display typefaces, however, are a bit more forgiving in their character sets and necessary polish. I thought it was about time to give one a try.

Pool Tile Sans animation presenting geometric letters, numerals, symbols and type specimens in dark purple on pink, yellow and cyan.

YOU CAN ALMOST SMELL THE CHLORINE

From a (seemingly) simple kit of parts

The idea for Pool Tile Sans was based upon modular letterforms built out of tile surrounding a public pool. There’s something charmingly utilitarian about the forms; the message is infinitely more important than the aesthetics. No Diving. Shallow. Depth 4 ft–0 in.The optical adjustments and nuances of certain letterforms turned this exercise into a larger-than-expected effort. That aside, it was an enjoyable puzzle to solve—an enlightening first foray into crafting a display typeface.The design features uppercase, lowercase, diacritics, catchwords, and ornaments.

Collage of four pool area close-ups showing tiled depth markers and safety signage.
Pool Tile Sans specimen in pink lettering on dark purple: You want a piece of me? You got it! This is Frank Costanza. Serenity now!! What the hell does that mean? I will not tolerate infestation.

THE FACE STARTS TALKING

A narrow idea with room to move

The specimen work moves from alphabet and word studies into denser settings, letting the system prove itself at different scales without disguising where it came from. The finished face keeps the tiled, public-space character of its source while becoming a usable display system.

Pool Tile Sans specimen in dark purple on pink: Never believe a weevil. Epidemic of charcuterie on chalk boards. Swingin' gibbons. Hoagie-rolling, jolly-golly isthmus. Just over there catty-cornered.
I think you're bananas, in stacked dark purple tile lettering on pale cyan.
Every thing is O.K., in stacked dark purple tile lettering on yellow.
Hold all your horses! in stacked dark purple tile lettering on pink.
Dark purple exclamation and question marks formed from geometric tiles on yellow.
Coffee milk society, in three lines of dark purple tile lettering on pale cyan.
Pool Tile Sans specimen reading an elongated Oh, followed by Good... for you, in dark purple tile lettering on pale cyan.
I eat pie 3.1415 times a week, in dark purple tile lettering on pink, with oversized numerals.
Dang. in large dark purple geometric tile lettering on yellow.
Pool Tile Sans specimen chart arranging geometric letters, numerals, punctuation, symbols and ornaments in a grid of pink tiles on dark purple.

THE GLYPH SET

The useful oddballs

A modular alphabet is only convincing when it survives the characters that do not want to cooperate. Fleurons, accents, punctuation, currency, and a handful of especially stubborn letters became the real test of the system.

Geometric pilcrow paragraph symbol in dark purple tiles on cyan.
Dark purple four-petal flower ornament with a circular center on pink.
Rounded dark purple cross ornament with small detached squares on yellow.
Dark purple R inside a rounded square border built from geometric tiles on yellow.
Dark purple ornament combining a central geometric star and leaf-like forms on pink.
Dark purple four-petal flower ornament with a square center and tile grid on pink.
Dark purple four-petal flower ornament with a grid of square center tiles on pink.
Dark purple cross-shaped ornament with detached circular dots on pink.
Dark purple cross ornament with four detached circular dots on pink.
Dark purple cross-shaped ornament of rectangles and triangles on pale cyan.
Dark purple pinwheel ornament built from triangles around a square center on yellow.
Dark purple diamond-and-leaf ornament on yellow.
Dark purple flower ornament with four circular dots above an angular leaf base on pink.
Dark purple plant-like ornament with paired semicircular leaves above angular base tiles on pink.
Dark purple flower ornament combining circles, semicircles and angular leaves on pink.
Dark purple ornament with a central square and small squares extending diagonally on yellow.
Dark purple cross ornament surrounded by small square dots on yellow.
Dark blue geometric ornament made of square and triangular forms, centered on a light cyan background.
Dark purple cross ornament with triangular points on pale cyan.
Rounded dark purple cross ornament on yellow.
Geometric uppercase E with two square-tiled umlaut dots in dark purple on cyan.
Geometric lowercase u with an acute accent in dark purple on yellow.
Geometric sharp S, or eszett, glyph in dark purple on pink.
Geometric lowercase n with an angular tilde in dark purple on pink.
Geometric lowercase e with two umlaut dots in dark purple on cyan.
Geometric joined ae ligature in dark purple on cyan.
Right-pointing arrow assembled from dark purple rectangular and triangular tiles on yellow.
Segmented right-pointing arrow in dark purple on yellow.
Geometric TM trademark letters joined into a dark purple tile glyph on cyan.
Segmented dark purple section symbol on yellow.
Dark purple R inside a rounded square border built from geometric tiles on yellow.
Exclamation mark formed from five dark purple rectangular tiles and a circular dot on yellow.
Geometric dark purple question mark with a segmented circular dot on pink.
Geometric dark purple question mark with a solid circular dot on pink.
Two right-pointing guillemet chevrons formed from dark purple tiles on yellow.
Number sign formed from dark purple geometric tiles on cyan.
At sign formed from dark purple geometric tiles on pink.
Geometric ampersand with angular E-like and t-like forms in dark purple on yellow.
Geometric cent symbol in dark purple on a pale cyan background.
Geometric pound sterling symbol in dark purple on yellow.
Geometric yen symbol in dark purple on a pink background.
Geometric dollar sign with two vertical strokes in dark purple on yellow.
Per mille symbol with three circular rings and a diagonal stroke in dark purple on pink.
Lowercase z formed from dark purple geometric tiles on cyan.
Lowercase w formed from dark purple geometric tiles on pale cyan.
Lowercase n formed from dark purple geometric tiles on cyan.
Lowercase c formed from dark purple geometric tiles on cyan.
Geometric uppercase Y in dark purple on cyan.
Geometric uppercase X in dark purple on pink.
Geometric uppercase T in dark purple on yellow.
Geometric uppercase S in dark purple on yellow.
Geometric uppercase R in dark purple on pink.
Geometric uppercase L in dark purple on yellow.
Geometric uppercase K in dark purple on pink.
Geometric uppercase B in dark purple on yellow.