The ultimate gift for the font-loving chess player, Hat-trick design's Jim Sutherland has created a typographic chess set based on the character forms from the Hoefler & Frere-Jones typeface Champion Gothic.
The limited edition - only 50 sets have been produced, uses laser-cut acrylic for the pieces. The King, represented by a capital K, is 50mm tall, the pawns 30mm. While Champion lends itself well to this new use, Sutherland says he had to make a couple of adjustments – the Q and P have been redrawn to make them more stable and the Kt ligature (for the Knight) has been redrawn.
Sutherland's sketches for the playing pieces:
The board itself is made from 2mm greyboard foiled in black. "It was a really tricky production in order to get the fine detail and the counters sharp, plus making sure everything stood up properly," Sutherland says. "The hope is that we will go into a longer production run in the future."
A sheet in the packaging includes information about moves and chess notation as well as a selection of chess-themed quotations. A set of postcards, also included in the pack, show how each piece moves.
Type Chess Set Details, Price and Ordering info:
A typographic chess set based on chess notation designed by Jim Sutherland.
The forms are based on typeface Champion (Lightweight) by Hoefler Frere Jones.
Limited edition: 50 sets
Pieces: Laser cut from 25mm acrylic
The King is 50mm tall, the pawn is 30mm
Packaging: 2mm greyboard foiled in black
Board size 364mm X 364mm
Published 2012
Price £275 ($440.419 USD)
Delivered by registered post
UK: £6.50 Outside UK: £22
Buy it here.
Brought to my attention via Creative Review, all images courtesy of Hat-Trick