With How to Speak Rooster, Occupant Fonts introduces its first type specimen book, which doubles as a gift for younger readers.
By Elizabeth Leeper
Is that a chicken or a penguin inside the uppercase Eszett? No one knows for sure. However, the sighting of an upside down rabbit in the bold Omega has been independently confirmed.
Cyrus Highsmith, June Shin, Cem Eskinazi, and Marie Otsuka share an illustrative approach to type design. In the summer of 2018, the Occupant Fonts team was working on redrawingScout and Heron. Many of the proofs ended up with doodles of animals hiding between and inside the letters. This sparked the idea for Occupant’s first type catalogue, How to Speak Rooster, a children’s book that teaches its readers to “speak rooster” in six languages.
The rooster’s crow in Czech, French, and Icelandic using Scout Condensed, Ibis Text, Antenna Serif Extra Condensed.
The languages used in Rooster were chosen for a combination of reasons — mostly, the focus was on good letters that would make nicely shaped words. The team used the internet to research the rooster’s crow in different languages, and cross-checked with friends and colleagues who are native speakers. For some rooster sounds, they never got confirmation. What the rooster says in Portuguese is still up for debate.
How to Speak Rooster is Highsmith’s fourth children’s book but his first in the board book format. The rounded corners and thick pages should hold up well in the hands of even the most aggressive readers.
Highsmith sketched by hand, then reassembled the book spreads digitally using simple color separations that reference older comic books. How to Speak Rooster was printed in the United States at Pint Size Productions, in a run of 1,500 copies. Books are available from Draw Down Books, Katherine Small Gallery, and RISD Works.
The book joins a small collection of type-inspired children’s books. Highsmith knew Grilli Type’s recent alphabet book for GT Eesti, Apfel, Ball, und Cha-Cha-Cha (designed by Reto Moser), and Paul Shaw introduced him to a specimen book for children by Jules Didot from back in the 1800s. The Occupant Fonts team is excited about the possibility of a series — this playful approach feels like a good direction.
How to Speak Rooster does double duty as a type catalogue and gift. So when you receive one in your conference goodie bag, please take it home and share it with a young reader. Occupant Fonts considers this book a long-term investment.
All Occupant Fonts fonts are available for print, web, applications, and ePub licensing. Webfonts may be tested free for thirty days; desktop trials are available upon request. To stay current on all things Occupant Fonts, subscribe to Type Network News, our occasional email newsletter featuring font releases, foundry happenings, type and design events, and more.
