A. Poudre
Nouvelle Noire · Philippe Apeloig · 2013
Originally designed for an Alfred Nobel exhibition poster, this typeface constructs letterforms from grids of out-of-focus dots whose density shifts across seven named steps from near-empty to tightly packed.
About
Philippe Apeloig designed this face for a poster about Alfred Nobel, drawing on the inventor's work with dynamite and subatomic particles. Letters are built from large halftone-style dots on a grid; the seven steps from Zero to Six vary the density and spacing of those dots rather than changing conventional stroke weight. Within a word the shifting density creates an undulating, powder-like dispersal across the surface, allowing emphasis at the level of a letter, a syllable or a whole word.
Classification
A. Poudre is a display typeface composed of out-of-focus dots arranged in a grid, with density variations creating weight differences across seven steps. Its entirely non-standard construction places it firmly in the experimental display category.