What do we think of Vidange?

[Member Nic…]

This topic was imported from the Typophile platform

I can't say I care for it too much. I didn't like Barnbrook's Priori Gill rework, but this goes a step further and takes Gill and tortures it into gimmicky shapes for no particular reason. Look at 'submit Forum topic' - up and down all over the place. It makes for an uncomfortable read.

 

[Member Dun…]

Lacks unity IMHO. The angled letters have a runic feel that doesn't mesh with the rounded letters from Gill.

[Member jon…]

I think it's interesting -- it seems to have some elements of some of the earlier Emigre typefaces like Manson/Mason, with a hint of Electrix and Lunatix. I think I'd like Vidage more if it was more its own thing, and didn't have characters that look so much like Gill (in particular, the lowercase "t").

[Member nin…]

Yeah, what a strange font. I'm not sure I get what it's about, and somehow I'm reluctant to believe there is no point behind its range of differing structures.

Some details are awesome – I am very excited about its "g". And the "q" is interesting too. And the "M" seems very Jack Usine.
To my eye, they just all seem to belong to slightly different fonts. :-\

[Member cro…]

We loves it we does

[Member Ste…]

What it's about: Jack is heavily influenced by vintage lettering seen on signs in France. Check out his fantastic Jules Vernacular and you can see some of the forms that inspired Vidange. It's not a text face, folks. It's meant to be wacky.

[Member cer…]

The "a" kind of destroys the whole thing.

The smallcaps caught my interest; they look more like a coherent design somehow. This face might be best suited for all-caps uses, with the lowercase treated as ancillary just in case you need a lowercase character or two.

[Member Dun…]

Thanks for the link, Stewf. Vindange makes much more sense in that context.

[Member Jan…]

Yer. That’s wacky is what I thought until I saw by whom it was.

[Member rus…]

I like Vidange and I love Jules Vernacular.

-=®=-

[Member nin…]

Good points. FWIW, I know (and have used some of) Jack's previous work, and love Jules Vernacular too; somehow my eyes still get a bit seasick from trying to reconcile the rounds and angles. Maybe it's just me.

[Member Ber…]

Me not like at all. (But I am a grumpy old guy, so what do I know…)

. . .
Bert Vanderveen BNO

[Member Wil…]

>I am a grumpy old guy, so what do I know

Hey, that's wisdom, don't knock it. As James Brown used to sing:

:: SAY LOUD! :: I'M OLD AND I'M PROUD! ::

Or something like that :)

[Member Joe…]

Wow, Stephen, with that background the forms make a lot of sense. I'm a fan. I can't think how I would ever recommend it to a client, but it's pretty great.

[Member Sim…]

to be cliche, when your local goth-club is seeking a new identity... Vidange!

[Member Dan…]

Wow. I like this one:

 

That should totally be cleaned up and turned into a font.

[Member rob…]

extra awkward, although the lowercase g is rather elegant.

[Member Nic…]

...grumpy old guy...

There are some young fogies here too :-)

***

It works for me, except when a sequence of letters is all Gill, e.g. "topic".
I'm like, why did the font change?

[Member par…]

Was it Mark Twain who once said: Wagner's music is not as bad as it sounds.
If it does not look great before the explanations, why would it look great afterwards?

[Member Nic…]

If you have an immediate dislike for something, are you condemned to despise it for eternity?

[Member par…]

Nope, you are right, Nick. Can I please dislike it until at least Monday?

[Member Dun…]

If it does not look great before the explanations, why would it look great afterwards?

Because type appreciation is cutural. The explanation allows me to appreciate why someone would design a font like this, why he thought that there are designers who might use it, and why he thought people wouldn’t have too much trouble reading it when they encounter it. I still wouldn’t use Vidange—it just isn’t my cup of rather orderly tea. But, having seen the photos that inspired it, I’m sure that there are plenty of designers in France who would just love to use Vidange.

[Member Dan…]

I used to hate how a Les Paul looked. Until I realized that the very nature of the Les Paul defines what cool is. If it plays awesome, is awesomely useable, sounds great, works in any number of settings, etc., then almost magically it starts to look awesome as well.

Except for Vidange, which I don't think is that great because it doesn't look like it works for anything other than English Choral music filtered through a ring harmonizer.

And that, my friends, is my personal interpretation of a David Berlow post. :)

[Member Dun…]

Dan, you’ve made me realize that I could use Dave’s posts as nonsense text in type specimens.

[Member par…]

James, I believe that in things visual and subjective (as well as in music), if you have to explain it at length, you've already lost.