Why Impact? A list of grunge fonts/original?

[Member pic…]

Personally, I think "grunge" is not such a good term.
If a typeface is altered, as to indicate some effect, there may be various design motivations: "grunge" tells nothing about the design at hand.

[Member Nic…]

Right.
Grunge was a music scene.
So using it today runs into the problems we have with “Modern”.
“Distressed” is a more accurate term for type.
Oh well, whatever, never mind.

[Member pic…]

Hi Nick,
I am aware of the tendency of calling those "altered" type designs "distressed". It‘s just that I never felt comfortable with both english terms ("grunge" and "distressed"). I never felt at home with the general attitude most english-speaking and dutch designers were using during the early 1990s avant-gardes which let to lettering and type experimentation, because they weren’t related to my personal experiences.
Th biggest problem I have is that "distressed" implies an association with inner feelings which are not necessarily the ones fueling the inspiration.
The reasons may be varied as much as the reasons which prompt to do a new take or experiment on established typographic categories, so the definition should reflect that, without implying certain emotional states or feelings.
Of course, there was a sense of anguish and disorientation in the mid-1990s, for young people which were getting older in that period, but this wasn’t the only (or the main) element of inspiration for producing “distressed” type. Another silly term was “egyptian” but luckily it’s mostly gone… :-)

[Member eli…]

As type descriptors go, I think "grunge" is pretty great!
It's almost onomatopoeic.

[Member Nic…]

Claudio, I’ve never considered Distressed to mean an emotional state, when applied to type.
Before its use to describe a genre of type, I was already familiar with its long-standing meaning as applied to antiques (furniture etc.) and pseudo-antiques: “Intentionally marred or faded to convey an antique or used look”.
Also, I don’t believe that types have inherent emotional qualities.
Therefore, to use an existing craft manufacturing term to describe a style of type seemed quite straightforward, especially as the design process is one where a perfect shape is corrupted, tainted, or marred.

Grunge has a broader meaning, as it quite often refers to what has never been anywhere near perfection.
Typeface: Amoeba, or anything roughly hand-made.

Deconstruction was another mid-90s method, typically involving a mash-up of contrasting styles.
Typeface: Fudoni, Dead History, Keedy Sans.

All these three terms describe things that are less-than-perfect, but in quite different ways.

What are the words for “distressed”, meaning the antiquing of furniture, in other languages?

[Member mik…]

hello, sorry for my bad english, but I have need help quickly, I m looking for the name of this Font for my graphic job. please help me. it is verry important. thank you everyone

[Member pic…]

Hi Nick, thanks for the explanation.
So it’s just my bad english, once again? LOL

"Distressed", if I get the meaning applied to furniture, in italian should be "anticato" (i.e. "made antique"). Was that the meaning to which you referred?

While I agree on "destructural" (but I preferred "post-structural", as once you "destructured" you must have "reconstructed" to some degree, to obtain something which more or less works), I still think "grunge" is a bit "anything goes" kind of term. I quite liked Jens' Amoeba, and never thought of it as "grunge". Rather I thought it was ingenious, as the idea of parts "washed away" was incorporated into the design. A different approach than, say, the one by Barry Deck.

@mikougnie: Your post has nothing to do with the topic at hand: there is a specific section here on the forums for type identification requests. :-)

[Member Nic…]

A fourth category may be the simulation, or the faithful recording—to use Jonathan Hoefler’s term describing his Historical Allsorts—of a roughly printed (compared with subsequent technologies) typeface, where the distress is unintentional, an artefact of the printing process. Mark van Bronkhorst has called this Rustic, e.g. his Celestia Antiqua.

Compare with the architectural term Rustication.

[Member Nic…]

"Distressed", if I get the meaning applied to furniture, in italian should be "anticato" (i.e. "made antique"). Was that the meaning to which you referred?

Yes. The faux patina of age.

[Member 5st…]

onomatopoeic

Typophile word of the day.

n.

[Member 5st…]

Isn't the typeface Veneer one of the more popular recent releases in vintage/grunge/distressness?

http://www.myfonts.com/fonts/yellow-design/veneer/

In its marketing description both grunge and distress seem almost interchangeable.

n.

[Member Té…]

One more meaning of 'distressed' – bent out of shape.

[Member Ren…]

Nick said, "I don’t believe that types have inherent emotional qualities."

Of course neither metal or or machine code don't. But surely you believe that types convey emotional qualities, don't you?

[Member Nic…]

That’s why I said “inherent”.
A typeface is like a violin, it can play a dirge or a jig.
Distress can signify excitement or sincerity, and so on.

[Member hra…]

Typefaces most certainly do have inherent emotional qualities (even though those don't always manifest) because they're made of shapes, and humans are physical creatures in a physical world.

hhp

[Member 5st…]

humans are physical creatures in a physical world.

hhp

Humans are spiritual beings in a physical world. So what you interpret is not that which I interpret.

Capish?

n.