Spring 2023
A celebration of sans
Sans (FR) 1628–1924
By Sébastien Morlighem Design by Sébastien Morlighem and Élodie Boyer. Published by Ésad & Les Éditions Non Standard, €35
If, by setting out its content on its cover, a book could be said to wear ‘its heart on its sleeve’, then that is what Sans (FR) 1628–1924 does. The visual essay it presents starts on the front cover and concludes on the back, with none of the formal preliminaries of a title, contents or editorial blurb. The 356 double black and white printed pages are wholly devoted instead to a broadly chronological arrangement of 234 images, which show the evolution of the idea of the sans serif letterform as manifest in French visual culture between the years 1628 and 1924. They draw from books and publications, printed ephemera, engravings, paintings and, perhaps most evocatively, from contemporary street photography …
Catherine Dixon, teacher, designer, London
Read the full version in Eye no. 104 vol. 26, 2023
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