sebastian lester discusses scene

“Amongst all existing type faces only Grotesque fits spiritually into our time,” wrote Tschichold 75 years ago, and though he relaxed his view seven years later, it seems the sentiment might apply just as strongly now as then. We appear to be living through another great age for the sans-serif form; though the archetypes have not faded away – Futura, Gill Sans, Helvetica, and Univers continue to be used widely – several, prominent designs have recently been issued. These include, among others, FF Bau, ITC Conduit, FF DIN, Gotham, Knockout, FF Scala Sans, and Solex.

An important addition to this group is Sebastian Lester’s Scene. An amalgam of sorts; kith and kin of DIN, and more distantly, Eurostile, it is less affected than either, and quite probably, more versatile. Available in regular and italic in six weights, and accompanied by an assortment of alternate forms, Scene is – just as advertised – eminently clean, open, and highly legible.

I was fortunate enough to discuss with Sebastian his latest release; my questions and his answers follow.

JC: What factors might be responsible for the renaissance of the industrial sans, and where does Scene fit in?

SL: I guess the renaissance is partly a backlash to the popularity of extremely experimental aesthetics in type design that spanned most of the 90’s. But I think it’s also about functionality. Generally speaking, sans serif designs tend to be better choices for use on screen than most serif or “grungey” counterparts for example. They’re inherently more robust and versatile in this environment.

There is something grounded and direct about sans serifs as well. They’re perceived, with some justification, as conveying “modern”, “professional” and “reliable” values well. Some do this better than others.

I think Scene fits comfortably into this genre. It was a two year labour of love. If you design type 8 hours a day for a living and then sometimes work 8 hours a day doing it recreationally afterwards then it can’t really be anything else!

The constraints I imposed on myself meant that the typeface was never going to push any boundaries. It was intended to be a clean, modern, highly legible, easy-to-use, and aesthetically pleasing typeface family. That was the intention. Whether it’s achieved these things is something for conjecture. I’m personally very happy with the design. I got a lot of honest feedback from some very talented people whose opinion I respect a great deal in the development process, which was invaluable.

I’d cite its main influences as Boo Gothic (a custom typeface designed at Monotype by Robin Nicholas), the ubiquitous DIN and various other designs I’ve grown to appreciate over time. Someone told me they thought that it looked like a modern take on News Gothic, which I can see.

JC: What design process did you follow in Scene’s development?

SL: I wrote a list of all the qualities I’d want in a typeface for corporate identity use. I then set about figuring out how to achieve them. I started with sketches. I’ve been immersed in corporate typeface design on a daily basis for quite some time now, so I’m constantly confronted with what clients want and don’t want from typefaces intended for this kind of use. It’s been illuminating and helpful.

JC: Your previous faces – Equipoize Sans and Serif, Cuban, and Zoroaster – are relatively adventurous when compared to Scene. Was it difficult to design and produce a more restrained face, or was it a welcome new direction?

SL: I saw it as a welcome new direction certainly. Sans serifs are deceptively simple in appearance as you know. You can’t hide bad drawing or structural flaws in a design behind elaborate serifs or pseudo experimental aesthetics. You have to work towards a real purity of form.

JC: Scene is an expansive family. Nonetheless, are there any immediate plans to extend the face even further (e.g., additional widths, small caps, extra characters)?

SL: Yep. In fact I’m currently developing symptoms of sleep deprivation and a nervous twitch working on two other widths of Scene – condensed and compressed. I’m really happy with how they’re shaping up.

I spent a great deal of time deliberating about the overall width of the characters. An “economy of space” over “maximum legibility” conundrum, effectively. I settled on designing three widths and releasing the widest version first.

Scene is available through Agfa-Monotype.

20-January 2003