#06 Mutable by Paulo Goode
Q1: Where did the idea for the typeface come from? Did you set out to address a specific use or suite of the application? Was this a design you’d had in mind for a while?
Ans: The inspiration for Mutable has a few influences. The starting point was thinking back to the time I hand-painted a sign for my father’s business when I was 14 years old and I had copied a typeface called Pretorian. It’s quite an unusual font that is instantly recognisable—you’d never confuse it with anything else. I was also researching Art Nouveau style and my sketches for this typeface reflected that with sweeping flourishes ending in foxtail terminals that would be an integral part of the family’s design. Finally, I referred to Ed Benguiat’s ITC Tiffany typeface to temper my sketches between frivolity and flamboyance.
Q2: What should graphic communicators know about the typeface, or how will the family of fonts help them create better designs?
Ans: It’s a display typeface that excels in branding, titles, and headlines. One of the joys of using Mutable is unleashing the plethora of alternates that are available. Once you start playing with a word or phrase and swapping individual characters within it, you may find it difficult to know when to stop! The intention was to create a typeface that was fluid and mutable, one that would allow the user to create something that was distinctive and unique to them and the moment they created it.