Retype Foundry

Amsterdam’s facade lettering never stops amazing me.

New at Brutal Types: Minibieb is a compressed informal sans typeface inspired by a lettering work by painter Theo Kurpershoek for the dust jacket of the 1961 Querido edition of Kleine Mensen in de Grote Wereld by A. den Doolaard. https://www.brutaltypes.com/fonts/minibieb

Coming soon to Brutal Types... 😜

A small sample of what I photographed yesterday while going through Anton Kurvers’ family archive. An article on Kurvers will be published on Brutal Types soon. He was a brilliant designer, yet his contributions remain largely unknown. Thanks to #allardpierson for facilitating access to the archives.

Coming soon to Brutal Types 😜

Stuurman is a display stencil typeface inspired by the vintage signage of the former Bedford–Vauxhall dealership located at Spoorstraat 6 in Gouda, the Netherlands. The iconic building, also known as Garage Zevenhoven, was designed in 1935 by Dutch architect Dirk Stuurman. https://www.brutaltypes.com/fonts/stuurman

Introducing Pawla, a compressed, ultra-thin display typeface designed by Ramiro Espinoza and inspired by the Deco-style lettering found on the façade of a former pharmacy in Hilversum, the Netherlands. https://www.brutaltypes.com/fonts/pawla

Introducing Aktie, a display typeface designed by P. Mastrangelo and R. Espinoza, inspired by the alphabet created by Dutch designer Anton Kurvers (1889–1940) for the architecture book series Moderneschoonheid, published by Kosmos Uitgevers in Amsterdam between 1931 and 1933. https://www.brutaltypes.com/fonts/aktie

Meet Dikehouse, an expressionist display typeface inspired by a ceramic tile sign located at the intersection of Tjark Jans Giezestraat and Molenstreek in Veendam, the Netherlands. https://www.brutaltypes.com/fonts/dikehouse

New font at Brutal Types: Kazemat is an expressionist display typeface inspired by a design created in 1927 by architect C. M. Bakker for the Nederlandschen Protestanten Bond (Dutch Protestant Union). https://www.brutaltypes.com/fonts/kazemat

Coming soon to Brutal Types. Stay tuned 😜

https://www.brutaltypes.com is online, folks! Enjoy the delightful quirkiness of early 20th-century avant-gardes.

Music is cool but the covers are a plus.

Introducing Edisonplein, a display typeface inspired by the lettering at the entrance of the former “Gemeenteschool J. voor GLO” a Dutch public school located at Edisonplein 20–46 in Schiedam, the Netherlands. https://www.brutaltypes.com/fonts/edisonplein

Read about Karma Kebab and the Kraai font at Font in Use: https://fontsinuse.com/uses/77438/karma-kebab (Thanks Matthijs and Florian!)

Tramstop is a font inspired by the lettering found at a former tram station located at Verspycklaan 1 in Naaldwijk, the Netherlands. The original inscription features a distinctive technical serif style—a constructed, modular alphabet that combines the structure of a geometric sans serif with short, carefully attached terminal serifs. https://www.brutaltypes.com/fonts/tramstop

Lovely letters from Gouda: the inspiration behind our next Brutal Types font. Coming soon. 👍

Thanks to the hard work of Kamyab Jafari and Andrea Hayek, in some months we will release an Arabic font pack at Brutal Types. Stay tuned.

My Amsterdam's School inspired mug is one step closer to production. Latest stage: resin models.

FYI, we are also designing and about to produce a Brutalist mug. Its design is inspired by Het Schip's tower.

Niiiice: A mural celebrating the work of Hildo Krop. More information: https://www.instagram.com/p/DYM9BiTjOLP/?img_index=1

It's called Botter.

Instead of news, this morning is for Chet.

Prototypes of our recent font release Botter were used in the past for poster and brochures by Rob van Hoesel. https://www.brutaltypes.com/fonts/botter

New acquisition for Brutal Types’ collection

One more beauty by Anton Kurvers coming soon to Brutal Types. 😜

Yes, we have some haters 😬 At pod hotel 'De Lola' at the #HaagscheBluf in #TheHaag a man with a hammer smashed windows of the hotel. A short time later, he returned with a jerry can filled with gasoline and tried to set the hotel on fire. The suspect has been detained.

New interview available at Retype's weblog: Henk van Assen: On Teaching, Curiosity, and Craft https://www.re-type.com/news/2026/05/06/henk-van-assen-on-teaching-curiosity-and-craft/

Don't miss this interview we have just published with Lennert Stok: https://www.brutaltypes.com/news/fresh-graphics-and-handmade-energy-interview-with-lennert-stok

Dutch brands making good use of Brutal Types: Kraai font in use at https://www.karmakebab.nl. Design by lennertstok.com

In case you know someone...

New font release: Botter is a sans-serif typeface developed in collaboration between David Quay and Ramiro Espinoza. Its design is based on a series of sketches and early font prototypes created by Quay in 2007. https://www.brutaltypes.com/fonts/botter

And I forgot to mention that the fabulous portraits in our Team section (https://www.brutaltypes.com/team) were made by the incomparable Laura Serra @laureola@typo.social 👍

One more fine book cover featuring Guyot Headline. Design by Moker Ontwerp.