Many perceive serif fonts as old-fashioned, with limited scope for use. Serifs are often associated with book design, or more mundane applications such as annual reports. Sans-serifs, on the other hand, are perceived as modern, clean, versatile. And so we have ended up with a visually barren landscape that involves mostly Helvetica.

With Cordale we have designed a contemporary serif typeface that is currently available in four styles: Regular, Bold and corresponding Italics. It is primarily intended to be used at text sizes, hence the more open spacing and slightly larger x-height. Some quirky features such as the 'k' give it the personality to be used at titling and display sizes. Its slightly condensed structure supports a variety of uses, even in display use where space is often at a premium.

Cordale is a workhorse font, despite the quirky features; the lines of the characters are tight and clean and the serifs have no ambitions other than to function, to serve legibility without breaking apart even at the smallest sizes. Although Cordale has features that give it some personality they are not overbearing. In fact, the design has a plain beauty that comes from its high-quality craftsmanship. This makes this font family effortlessly usable in all manner of communications.

Cordale is available in OpenType format for both Windows and Mac OS X, currently as a Standard edition. Licences are available now to buy online, or if you would like to discuss licensing options for Cordale or any other Dalton Maag exclusive fonts please do not hesitate to contact us.

Fabio Haag helped our first Brazilian client, w3haus, with the design of their new logotype. w3haus is an interactive communications agency, with offices in Porto Alegre, São Paulo, and in London. Being able to adapt to new trends and ideas is one of this agency's core values.

The client approached Dalton Maag to help design a logo that would signal their latest positioning. The brief was to create a mark that expressed fluidity and the willingness to adapt. At the same time the logo needed to be contemporary without being fashionable.

The lowercase-only treatment of the wordmark has a grid-like structure that is offset by a soft treatment of the individual shapes. The digit '3' is rotated from the 'w' but adjusted to keep the visual balance of the logo. Although the letter design is fairly square, the wordmark feels dynamic.

We believe we have created a unique logo for our client. The simplicity of its design belies the careful attention given to the expression and the crafting of the letterforms. It is firmly based in the traditional values of typography which guarantees that in the future it will still look as fresh as it does today.

Dalton Maag has been active on many fronts during 2008: The company structure has changed, new people have joined, and a new studio has opened. We've created more fonts this year than in any other during our seventeen year history, both bespoke and for our exclusive library. And we have been evangelizing far and wide: Type on Tour has taken Bruno and Angie to Sheffield, Portsmouth, Plymouth, Salford, Shropshire, Liverpool, Preston and soon to Newcastle in December 2008. The Sheffield, Portsmouth, Salford and Newcastle events were organized in collaboration with the respective universities with the audiences comprising a mix of students and design practitioners.

Shropshire, Preston and Plymouth were organized with the help of local creative hubs: Creative Shropshire, Creative Lancashire and the SCDF. It has been really inspiring to spend time with creative people of all disciplines from architecture, through illustration to graphic design and we aim to build on this for 2009. If you are a member of a regional design organization or involved in design education and you would like Bruno Maag to visit and talk about his passion for type please contact us.

In Switzerland we gave presentations to the SGD (Swiss Graphic Designers Society), CGC and at the 'Swiss Publishing Week'. Jeannette Derrrer was also co-organizing the first 'Typo Zurich', details of which are below.

We started in Brazil visiting key agencies and giving presentations. So far we have vistied the universities UFSM, Univates and Feevale. In Feevale we're hosting a workshop in type design once a semester. Our work for Knight Frank was acknowledged and awarded by two important design competitions: '9ª Bienal Brasileira de Design Gráfico' and '2º Prêmio Bornancini'. In 2009 we will spread our wings to South America. In July Fabio Haag will be in Uruguay to giving a lecture and be on the jury of the 'Premio Nacional de Tipografía de Uruguay 2009', "Edward Johnston" awards.

Our colleagues in Switzerland and Brazil would like to hear from you. Both Jeannette and Fabio are passionate about type and will gladly visit to give a presentation about our work and our attitudes to type and typography. We look forward to meeting you in 2009.

The audience at Typo Zurich 2008 experienced a broad spectrum of presentations from from a panel of internationally recognized speakers. Akira Kobayashi discussed his collaboration with Adrian Frutiger; Darren Bowles of Moving Brands captured the audience with projects from Moving Brands and the rebranding of Swisscom. Jonas Schudel represented the Swiss typographic scene talking about his experience creating Effra. The gap left by the sudden cancellation of David Carson was ably filled by Professor Rayan Abdullah who indulged us with an exploration into Arabic calligraphy. His oriental excursion in fact created the basis for the presentation on the project Transport Dubai by Bruno Maag and Rayan Abdullah. Alessio Leonardi closed the day with one of his always entertaining presentations.

Typo Zurich 2009 is already in preparation. A larger event is planned and exciting speakers have been identified. For more information visit their website.