Alphapipe Type Specimen Book

BC Alphapipe
Type Specimen Book
BC Alphapipe
By Maomao Ding
1

2

Type Specimen Book
BC Alphapipe
Briefcase Fountry
A sans serif font in 10 weights.
3

ontents

History
6-11
Analysis
14-27
Usage
30-39
Examples in Use
42-49
Citation
50-51

History

Alphapipe was originally
designed based on the awake
of Avant Garde Gothic, and
was designed exclusively for
GAMA book series of Odeon
publishing house. (Gallery of
modern authors). In 1970s,
Czech graphic designer Jiří
Rathouský developed his flair
for typefaces, showcasing
rhythmic and dominant text
composition throughout
numerous books published in
the eighties.
The digital version of the
typeface by Radek Sidun
in 2011 contains a set of
small capitals and all stylistic
alternates to ensure the original
variability of typed text.
Briefcase offers original Czech
productions by authors, who
may not wish to set up their
own type foundry for the
purpose of publishing their
fonts. It profiles itself as an
independent type foundry,
which is be able to offer a
wide range of unique fonts,
thanks to its extensive author
portfolio. BC Alphapipe is
one of many typefaces from
Berifcase type foundry. Radek
Sidun, who made alphapipe
digitalized, is also one of
the founder/partners of this
foundry.
History and Origins of BC Alphapipe
8

2011
In 1992, Jiří Rathouský
designed
a number of book
covers for the
GAMA edition by
Odeon publishing
house. Is the first
use of Alphapipe.
In 2011, Radek Sidun
made a digital
version for issue #7
of Komfort Mag.
While the original
Alphapipe was a
single style, the
new BC Alphapipe
spans five weights,
each with italics.
9

Jiří Rathouský was born on April 20, 1924
in Prague. He was a graphic designer and
typographer who devoted himself to a wide
range of art disciplines: book graphics,
corporate identity and visual style creation of
important Czech companies and institutions,
information design of large projects with a social
impact, and posters for museums, theaters,
and postage stamps. Rathouský studied art at
the Faculty of Education in Charles University
in Prague Between 1945 and 1949. His studies
were interrupted for ideological reasons and the
discharge was not granted until 1992.
Jiří Rathouský (1924-2003)
10 10

11
Jiří Rathouský was a famous and extraordinary
Czech graphic designer and typographer. He
participated in designing the Czechoslovak
expositions at the EXPO 67 in Montreal
and EXPO 70 in Osaka and created the
information design for the New Scene of
the National Theatre in Prague. As a font
designer, he designed and implemented
several systems of typefaces for his projects,
which they have became an original
contribution to the history of Czech
typography.

Radek Sidun (1980)
12

13
Radek Sidun created the first digitised beta
version of the Alphapipe for Komfort Mag,
issue 7, in 2011. This is the first typographic
use of the Alphapipe since 1992. Other
than type designer, Radek is a member of
the Komfort magazine editorial team. He
serving as a pedagogue at the Type Design
and Typography studio of the Prague
Academy of Arts, Architecture and Design
(Umprum).

Analysis
14

15

Alphapipe Thin
Vs.
Alphapipe Light
Alphapipe "Q" has
this distinctive arch,
interrupted by the
diagonal.
16

10
Weights
835
Glyphs
2014
Release
17

Aa Bb Cc Dd Ee Ff Gg
Hh Ii Jj Kk Ll Mm Nn
Oo Pp Qq Rr Ss Tt Uu
Vv Ww Xx Yy Zz
1 2 3 4 5
6 7 8 9 10
!@#$%^&*()_+
/{}|:”<>?,.
18

Simple geometric construction
derived from
the shape of a circle.
-11 pt, Alphapipe Thin
Simple geometric construction
derived from the shape
of a circle.
-11 pt, Alphapipe Thin Italic
Simple geometric construction
derived from
the shape of a circle.
-11 pt, Alphapipe Light
Simple geometric construction
derived from the
shape of a circle.
-11 pt, Alphapipe Light Italic
Simple geometric construction
derived from
the shape of a circle.
-11 pt, Alphapipe Regular
Simple geometric construction
derived from
the shape of a circle.
-11 pt, Alphapipe Semibold
Simple geometric construction
derived from the shape
of a circle.
-11 pt, Alphapipe Regular Italic
Simple geometric construction
derived from the shape of a
circle.
-11 pt, Alphapipe Semibold Italic
Simple geometric construction
derived from
the shape of a circle.
-11 pt, Alphapipe Bold
Simple geometric construction
derived from the shape
of a circle.
-11 pt, Alphapipe Bold Italic
19

1
Alphapipe
4
2
3
70 pt. Regular
20

1. Slanted tale
2. No stress on horizontal axis
3. No stress on vertical axis
4. Venetian slant of the bar
21

Lowercase
rounded n.
Tilted
Snowy
Drived from
circle.
Symmetrical
geometic.
104 pt. Regular
Facing page: 104 pt. All Caps
Seemingly
Italic.
The word "snowy" perfectly shows
Alphapipe's characteristics of some
particular lowercases.
22

*
SNOWY
23

Examples of the Stylistic Sets. BC
Alphapipe have 11 stylistic sets in total
for different glyphs.
hAppy
A
110 pt. Regular
A Aa
AAa
24

aaa
happy a p
110 pt. Regular
ppp
25

700 pt. Light B
B26

Both uppercase B, P, R, and
K have this unique feature,
where the cross-stroke are
Pnot tied into the left stem.
27
700 pt. Light P

Alphapipe is a fresh and modern alternative
of Avant Garde by Herb Lubalin and Tom
Carnas. Alphapipe holds some of the original
characteristics of Avant Garde and at the
same time developed other interesting
features.
28

Alphapipe
Avant Garde
29

Usage
30

31

As showing below, the relationship
between capital to x-height is large
compare to other sans serif font.
Anxious
x-height
96 pt. Regular
32

33
Typography
0.6 in
15.2 mm
43.2 pt
0.3 in
7.62 mm
21.6 pt
0.7 in
17.8 mm
50.4 pt
92 pt. Regular
The set width of Alphapipe is
very similar between glyphs.
Most of them have the same
width except for glyphs like
"y""w",or"r".

The counter space perfectly
shows how Alphapipie is a simple
geometric construction derived
from the shape of a circle.
Counter
Space
88 pt. SemiBold
34

Counter
Space
35

Italic
Monday
70 pt. Bold
Monday
70 pt. SemiBold
Weight
Monday
70 pt. Regular
Monday
70 pt. Light
Monday
70 pt. Thin
36

Monday
70 pt. Bold Italic
Monday
70 pt. SemiBold Italic
Monday
70 pt. Regular Italic
Monday
70 pt. Light Italic
Monday
37
70 pt. Thin Italic

A comparison between small size
body text and large size headlines.
Obviously, Alphapipe is better for
large size headlines.
"Jiří Rathouský (1924–2003) was a notable Czech
graphic designer and typographer. He participated in
designing the Czechoslovak expositions at the EXPO 67
in Montreal and EXPO 70 in Osaka and created the
information design for the New Scene of the National
Theatre in Prague. One of Rathouský’s most significant
commissions was the signage system for the C line of
the Prague underground. Rathouský is the author of
many type designs. " (Briefcase.com)
11 pt. Regular
38

Request
Title
39
Type

112 pt. Regular
Liquify
Ascender
Descender
Alphapipe has decent
distinguishiable ascender and
relatively shorter descender.
40

Alphapipe as one of the
geometirc typefaces, has
very little contrast.
Solidify
Low Contrast
108 pt. Regular
41

Examples
42

43

Lavimi Wallpaper
44

Lavimi is a brand that sets the trends in
interior design.
These beautiful wallpapers created by
Babeta Ondrová can be used for home
or stuido. Ondrová loves typography
and she used Alphapipe as one of the
pattern for this set of wallpaper.
This real-world example in use perfectly
displays the beautiful glyph for
Alphapipe. You can use glyph as image.
45

Cena Oskára Čepana 2015
46

47
Visual Identity designed by Boris
Meluš for Cena Oskara award in
2015 in Slovakia. This award held
annually is intended for visual
artist under 40 years

Komfort Mag #7
“To Play With”
48

49
Komfort Mag issue #7 was designed by Olga Benešová and
Radek Sidun. This issue used the first digitized beta version
of the Alphapipe typeface, which makes it the first use of
Alphapipe since 1992.

Vladimír Vondráček 1972–1979
50

The book about olympionic and Czechoslovakian
representative in road cycling Vladimír Vondráček
uses BC Alphapipe for the spine & headlines.
Author and publisher: Take, Take, Take in 2017.
51

Sources
1
2
3
4
5
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briefcasetype.com/fonts/bc-alphapipe/about
ontsinuse.com/typefaces/32206/bc-alphapipe
stormtype.com/people/jiri-rathousky
taketaketake.cz/obchod/Vladimir-Vondracek-1972-1979
Briefcase News 01, Print.
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