Spring/Summer 2023

“Perpetua” Custom Typeface

A friendly, vintage-inspired typeface with a modern, screen-friendly appeal

School Project
Adobe Illustrator
⏶ A spec sheet highlighting Perpetua’s alphabet. The typeface is paired with the URW Type Family, which has clean, squared-off shapes and little contrast to complement Perpetua’s most distinct features.

This custom typeface was developed as the summative project for the GCM 806: Advanced Typography course at Toronto Metropolitan University.

The goal of this project was to develop a consistent and holistic character set to fulfill a stylistic vision, to reinterpret several base elements into a full alphabet, and to optically balance glyphs for maximum visual appeal.

This typeface received recognition on Episode 146 of the graphic arts-focused podcast Talk Paper Scissors, titled “Emerging Typeface Designers Nicole Galindo & Cameron Mady” for its excellence.

Perpetua is a bold display typeface designed to draw the eye, tying back to retro styles while having a modern and screen friendly flair. It is distinctive yet familiar, marrying a love for old school designs with a fresh faced upgrade.

Perpetua has a simple, rigid and geometric structure with enough contrast to give its traditional feel a little more style.

Unique characters include rounded letters like O, Q, G, R, U, and G thanks to its angular build, and the typeface caters to readers looking for something mature/dependable yet fun, or those who love retro styles.

⏶ The initial sketch for Perpetua. Various features of the typeface were tweaked, refined, and optically balanced in the final, vector version seen in the spec sheet.
⏴ Back to Portfolio
Let’s Talk! ⏵