Saturday, December 5, 2015

ASL typeface

Peter A. Blacksberg
(image from RIT)
ASL Manutype Black is a modern typeface for American Sign Language designed by Peter A. Blacksberg. Blacksberg attended Rochester Institute of Technology where he studied photography and developed an interest in sign language when he took part in an NTID summer interpreter program.  He says:
As a photography student in 1972, I became fascinated by the visual aspects of fingerspelling and the challenge of representing hand shapes as graphical forms. I proposed an independent study project and developed a complete typeface along the lines of the international signage that I had seen in Europe. I spent hours reducing visual complexity while retaining and enhancing elements which made each letter shape identifiable.
The RIT official announcement is here.