"In the last couple of years, Hamish Muir and Paul McNeil have been reinventing some amazing concepts within 'parametric type' design," says US designer and co-founder of type foundry Associated Typographics, Michael Cina.
"This is how I entered the world of type design as well, learning from the genius of Wim Crouwel and other greats. What I love about their work is that they use process-based design and execute it with pure skill."
"A lot of times a typeface/system like this can get easily written off, but they present it in a way that demands attention and respect. It also challenges the designer/user to interact with the work and build upon its limitations, which I see as a good thing. True genius."
"I have a real admiration for the work of Jeremy Mickel's work in general – even though he has abandoned us for LA, the traitor – but I have a special fondness for his AMC Zing from 2012," says designer Erik Brandt.
"This monolined grotesque has been one of my favourite fonts for a while. I don't know if it is a hidden gem, but it is a gem to me," says designer Rejane Dal Bello.
"BC Liguria is highly typographic while being playful and distorted at the same time," reflects Michael Cina.
"It reads amazingly well and oddly enough, I have not seen anything quite like it. Normally typefaces like this miss the mark in one or more levels but Liguria is well executed from start to finish."
"Originally drawn for phototypesetting technology, the typeface was everything Helvetica should have been, but sadly lost to time and a legal battle. Now beautifully re-drawn for the current day by Lineto," say the team at London and New York-based independent type foundry, Colophon Foundry.
The full version of this article first appeared inside Computer Arts issue 242, a typography special that explores the state of contemporary typography. You can grab your copy of Computer Arts 242 here.
