Gestalten

Your name / Company name
Michael Mischler (Mika Mischler)

A short description about you and your work? Typography has become more important in my work. Most of the time, the choice of typography is the first visual decision that has to be made; it is like the starting point in a new project. That’s how I have developed a lot of fonts or font-experiments. To me, good solutions have to be able to grow.

What is your direction in graphic design? How would you characterize your style?
Graphic design is a question of the content and its visualisation. Styles are defined by the individual’s work and styles are changed according to the times.

Place of work
Berne, Switzerland

Can you give us a short description about the font?
T-Star was essentially an attempt to create a type that resembled the DIN font, as an impression not by following its systematic principles. It is supposed to appear chilly, clinical and technical. The font is closely cut to compose a maximum of characters in narrow space. Its tall x-height makes it easy to read even when used in small point sizes.

Why did you design this font?
It is a further development from the T-Star Mono Round font, which I initially created for the book Los Logos published by Gestalten. Since the application of a monospaced font is always slightly limited, I developed it into a proportional font.

How did you develop the font?
The growth of T-Star was a sort of development of myself as a type designer and process. For the first time, I realized that the altercation of a font is a never-ending process. Typography is a process that doesn’t provide for an end. Where it starts and ends is solely up to the font designer since the revision and refinement can be pursued infinitely. This is why there are so many versions and stages such as a mono-space and proportional font.

Since developing a font is based upon permanent findings it takes time. Time has to prove them right. But I am glad that I’ve finished designing the nine weights for T-Star and that they’re done for the moment.

What is the ideal usage of your font?
I think T-Star has a lot of character and is great for a broad range of applications - as a text font as well as for display.

Do you design your fonts by hand, or directly on the computer?
I usually just use my sketchbook to do some fast scribbles; but they are more to hold the ideas on paper so that they don’t get lost. When I start working on a font project in earnest, I start to work directly on the computer. But in the beginning the computer is not important; it's just another instrument like the pencil.

Does developing a typeface start with the character (the individual letter) or are there intermediate stages in which a kind of rhythm develops?
It is a ping-pong.

Can you explain what makes you choose a typeface? Or which typefaces catch your eye as something special?
The font certainly has to fit with the content. But another important aspect is that you can identify with the font or you like the font. Otherwise it is hard to work with the font and to create good typography.