Blooming typo
I had the great pleasure of interviewing the interesting designer and typographer Baptiste Guesnon from Bloom Type. I wrote a little text about him and his latest work for Jean-Paul Gaultier that you can read all about in the latest update from Cap&Design magazine. Have fun and thanks for reading! You find the text in Swedish right here. English translation below! Have a happy read! Blooming typo
The search for freedom and the dream of creating artistic expressions in-house are the driving forces behind the Stockholm-based start-up typographic agency Bloom Type.
The Gaultier family is based on Jean Paul Gaultier's cultural and symbolic heritage to serve as an extension of Jean Paul Gaultier's historical typographic palette.
Founder Baptiste Guesnon grew up in French Normandy. He studied design and art in various parts of his homeland and, along the way, developed a keen interest in typography. When his French girlfriend was offered a job in Sweden, they both moved to Stockholm and Baptiste was hired at the prestigious Söderhavet agency.
-I moved to Sweden out of love, but love for a Frenchwoman, says Baptiste with a laugh. I like Stockholm very much, and today I have no plans to move but rather to establish myself further. During my time at Söderhavet, I created different fonts and enjoyed them very much, but over time I began to long for more freedom.
Baptiste creates in Bloom Type's studio in the suburbs of Stockholm.
During the pandemic, Baptiste decided to follow his dream of working under his direction and without reins. He started up the Bloom Type agency, located at Telefonplan in Stockholm, and simultaneously managed to pitch in client Jean-Paul Gaultier.
The brief was to create a new typeface for the established perfume and fashion house that could express everything that the person Jean-Paul Gaultier was associated with as a brand.
-When I went into the project, the typography at the time consisted of typefaces based on classic Lettraset and very traditional ways of working with fonts. I was tasked with creating something completely new and had great typographic freedom. In crafting this modern, daring and expressive typeface family. The whole project was very creative and fell in line with the free-thinking spirit of the fashion brand," says Baptiste.
Over an intense and impressive six-month timeline, the new and daring Gaultier typeface developed.
-With total disregard for the typographic "baseline", and proportions of the letters, this typography extends in all directions to sense the space and be as loud as possible. It is a playful font that can be twisted and turned, expanded and minimized. For example, each font currently has six different weights and variations.
Everything that has to do with this new font is based on what we could find in the archives about the character Jean-Paul Gaultier and the previous fonts used by the brand, such as; Impact and Compacta.
Baptiste is proud of the fashion house project but doesn't want to focus entirely on the fashion world.
-I don't want to work with a specific type of client. I appreciate clients as much as the Swedish Brain Foundation and find that you can find creative freedom and playfulness in different kinds of projects, big and small.
As for the responsibilities of being a typographer in today's society, Baptiste takes his role and personal choices seriously.
-The person behind the creative expression is as important today as the expression itself. In a world where we choose to distance ourselves from sexists, rapists, racists and so on. Nor do I like the classic idea that tries to mystify the typographer into some grand older man in the shape of a genius. I'm happy to break that myth!
Baptiste wants his company Bloom Type to evolve into a transparent agency that expresses personality and social positions and openly shows the person behind the typeface and what they stand for.
-There is more typography being made now than ever before. People today are more aware of the typography itself and the background of who created it and why. It's essential to think about who you financially support when choosing a typeface! I want to make it easy for my customers to understand who I am and what I, as a person, am associated with and contribute to the world!
Baptiste has a great love for programming and creating fonts for the digital realm, which he is excited to evolve with unlimited possibilities. However, in his creative work, he draws most inspiration from analogue work and technological innovations and new ways of thinking that challenge the mind.
-I draw all the time and keep my flow going using my hand. I also find a lot of inspiration from developing concepts that combine two completely different things into a new hybrid. An example might be combining new technology with something taken straight from nature to create a unique and unexpected expression!
As for the future and life after the pandemic, Baptiste longs to work with a wide variety of clients but personally doesn't see much difference between life before and after.
-I'm thrilled with where I am in life and the freedom to work with various clients. The dream of working for some magazine is always there, but I'm happy with what I have right now! As for the pandemic, I think many people experience a lot of loneliness.
Still, it's pretty much the same kind of loneliness that we typographers always live in, so for me, not much has changed," Baptiste says with a laugh. Seriously, I think what we and the world are craving the most right now are things that are fun and all the expressions we call 'crazy stuff'!