Erasmo Ciufo is a graphic and type designer, teacher at SPD since 2012. His focus is lettering and brand identity. He worked for Carrera Sunglasses, Alemagna, Gruppo 24 ORE, Il Sole 24 ORE, Fratelli Orsero, Adidas Y-3 and SVLR, Plusdesign, ABOOK. He started the type foundry Hellotype and in 2010 he founded his studio Lettergram.
I am fascinated by the ability of a character to express the feeling, the spirit of the times. I love Dutch typography, but also the charm of the artistic calligraphy of my father.
Typography is a complex synthetic system of values. In type design it is proven that you improve over the years. I hope it will happen with me too.
I started from handwritten signs and vernacular signs of small businesses. Choco has a calligraphic nature educated by typographic design. With Out Now it has found its optimal scale.
I am attracted by exceptions, by little inaccuracies and outdated styles of past times, today these imperfections can be easily spotted thanks to technology. I use opentype for ligatures and alternative glyphs. The richness of a character is in the variety of proposals offered.
I started to draw characters to best express the values of the brands that I designed for. The design of a logotype proceeds towards the customization of a font; the design of a typeface leans towards the consistency of a system.
It is an important aspect. If in the past the matter to be carved was lead or wood, today it is informatics data. Engineering is what makes a font work. And if a character does not work, it is its end. In fact considering the tiny reality of Hellotype the help of technical experts is always welcomed.