These posts will present Schrofer’s work both according to these schemas and in (very) roughly chronological order, with references as well to their appearances in Fodor and LOM. I’ll be sharing fonts I’ve built from code that reconstruct the design spaces, marks and forms, and rules for their combination in the designs, as well as images of Schrofer’s own sketches, diagrams, maquettes, and the designs in application.

I’ll disagree occasionally with Schrofer’s descriptions and assessments, and sometimes suggest different ways to imagine his work. But I hope these posts do more to emphasize Schrofer’s own key insights, not just into his designs but into conventional scripts, and writing generally: that letters are in the end are undefined shapes and meaningless signs. His insights point the way to deeper explorations of how humans capture meaning in systems of visual form.

Some program notes before I start: Unless otherwise stated, all fonts and diagrams are my own design, made with the kind support and permission of Schrofer’s surviving family. I anticipate some versions of the fonts becoming available publicly, though more than that I can’t yet say.

Images of Schrofer’s work and papers are my own or, again unless otherwise stated, courtesy of the special collections of the Allard Pierson Museum in the University of Amsterdam.