Eye Magazine

This book is a wonderful curation of ‘typefaces’ created by designer Nigel Cottier, writes Jim Sutherland. Alphabetical Playground is a collection of typography based on systems, methodologies, maths, process and grids – founded on exploration and curiosity – that leads to graphic joy.

Cottier sets up the logical systems (each named using an Abecedarium of chapter titles - Alphanumeric, Bisect, Cursive, Dimensional, Geometry, Horizontals, etc.) and each typeface almost forms and designs itself from the preset parameters. The complexity of each system increases throughout the book and pushes legibility to the edge and over ‘… the alphabet always remaining remarkably impervious,’ as Hamish Muir notes in his foreword. Reading, and slowly understanding, the process and parameters for each system simply adds to the visual pleasure.

Fittingly, the language of Morse code is used throughout to demonstrate the letterforms as you often need to decode the words in front of of you. These are modern hieroglyphs (from where our alphabet originated) that often need transcribing and understanding. There are moments of delight as the shapes emerge into coherent letterforms. As Cottier says in his intro ‘it serves as a reminder of the alphabet’s enormous potential to transcend its fundamental purpose a tool for communication and instead becomes a limitless space for creative expression’.

The title is apt – the word ‘playground’ comes from Old English. Plegstow, or plaeg-stede means ‘a village sports ground, gymnasium’, literally a ‘place for play’. The word ‘alphabet’ is a compound of ‘Alpha’ and ‘Beta’, the first two letters of the Greek alphabet. This work is mental and visual gymnastics for the fun of it. There is pure, playful, graphic beauty at every page turn.

The book has echoes of two books that I have recently reviewed for Eye: System Process Form by MuirMcNeil and Flexible Visual Systems by Martin Lorenz. Cottier’s volume adds to that inspirational canon.

Jim Sutherland, designer, London

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Alphabetical Playground on Slanted.de
alphabeticalplayground.com