Making Type: James Edmondson of OH no Type Co.

In years to come, I think we’ll look back and say James Edmondson was one of the great type designers of this era. Heck, we don’t even have to wait to do that, I’ll just go ahead and say it now. His distinct flair, championing expressive type, has made its mark on the design landscape over the past decade. From exuberantly stylized and retro-inspired bangers, to workhorse families, OH no Type Co. has become a go-to for many designers.

If you’ve met James or follow him online, you’ll know he’s a remarkably chill, multi-talented human. I love seeing all his creative endeavors pop-up on social media from 3D printing to woodworking, and I jump at the chance to catch any of his excellent conference talks. I’m not convinced there’s anything creative he can’t do!

That’s probably enough of me gushing, I’m so glad to get to ask him a few questions for this next post in the Making Type series.

What was the initial spark that got you into type?

The first was very literal. I got a set of calligraphy pens when I was about fourteen that came with an instruction book on them. That book taught me how ink flowed out of a broad edged pen. Once I saw the magic of that, I was hooked and became really interested in contrast and just being able to replicate the forms. I’d doodle serif letterforms and that sort of thing.

That was the initial spark, but more broadly, I remember working on all sorts of creative projects as a kid: like recording a song, doing a drawing, making something out of cardboard etc, and wanting to look at it or listen to it over-and-over. Play with it! I would get so stoked on the things that I’d made like oh my god I can’t believe it was possible to do this.

So I think that feeling of just being so thrilled and excited by what you’ve made is really the thing that still makes me excited to create things.

Congrats on the recent 10 year milestone! What are you looking forward to for the next decade?

I’m going to be honest with you, I’m really looking forward to paying off my mortgage. I think in the next ten years I got a great chance to get it down to just the property taxes. That would give me a whole lot of financial freedom, and I’m very much looking forward to that.

Professionally, I’m looking forward to bolstering our catalog — making it more expansive and getting it to be as great as it can be. That and taking good care of our employees along the way.

You recently released your type design book, with an absolute wealth of knowledge. How was the process of writing this?

The process of writing was pretty terrible! I do like writing, I guess. I don't like editing. I really don’t like trying to find all the images. Luckily, I had help with the design side of things. I designed a couple of sample spreads and then the publisher, PA press which is owned by Chronicle Books, assigned a very talented book designer to flesh it all out. Natalie Snodgrass — she did a terrific job.

So yeah it was difficult. But I’m thrilled to be done with it.

OH no has built such a distinct style, and you included a lot of your sketches in the book which are so packed with character. I’m curious, do you prefer the analog sketching part or bringing type to life digitally?

Honestly, I think I prefer bringing things to life digitally because it’s so fast. I really love to go fast, and I love to be able to type with something. I love that feeling of being surprised by the texture, or from putting glyphs into a new sequence to make a new word. That part is really, really fun.

The analog sketching is fun too, but it can be a drag when you’re like oh, I just want to get this idea out. I’m limited by the tools in a way, because I can’t quite operate at the speed that I want to. Digitally there’s less limitations on your speed. Sometimes I just go completely digitally because I’m pretty comfortable there.

In the beginning I always had to sketch things out by hand first, and now I still like to but it’s not as necessary as it once was. Sometimes I want to force myself to do it sort of as an act of discipline, because there can be more surprises there than when you’re working purely digitally. You can make mistakes a little more easily and that can lead to the surprises.

Do you prefer looking to historical references for new designs or sparks of inspiration from your environment?

Between the two I like inspiration from my environment or imagination. Maybe my imagination is within my environment. Often that is going to lead somewhere that’s a little bit more interesting or a little bit more new feeling or unique.

But I like both, and I do plenty of both. You kinda have to operate from something historical just so people can read it, you know? So there’s always going to be some amount of that at the end of the day.

Having made many variable fonts and some extremely expressive ones, how do you find the technology influences how you approach type design?

I am definitely thinking about how I’m going to vectorize something, how those vectors will move across a design space. I’m trying to avoid putting anchors on the diagonals and stuff like that, because I know that can be problematic in the variable world. But for the most part, I try to not let the tools or the digital limitations impact what’s happening with the design. Obviously the the technology is there to support the design that you want to do and that’s the way it should be.

I think now we’re really thinking about what separates us as a foundry. We’re really capable of doing these bigger families that have a lot of styles and are variable in nature. Our clients and customers are responding to those bigger families, so yeah, we'll keep going there. Plus variable fonts are a great way to pack all that stuff into a very tidy little package.

How do you stay creatively satisfied?

I’m always jamming on something in addition to type, like building furniture or messing around with 3D modeling and printing. I do a ton of old school grocery style signs, like for wrapping presents, or drawing on the glass in our garage bar. I do so much creative stuff that I never really talk about too, or show on social media, because it’s often for school. I do a lot of volunteering for my daughter's elementary school, that’s really fun. I love that I get to do the t-shirts for those events and different things for the teachers.

There’s all sorts of these little projects that are fun and creatively satisfying. Over the years, I've gotten better at finding the ones where they don't offer a lot of criticism... When I have an actual client that’s saying it’s my way or the highway! I'm like, okay that’s totally fine, because I know I’m still getting my creative satisfaction out in these other areas.

I get it from music too. I still like to play guitar and bass, and I've been learning piano. There’s not always lot of time for that, but at the same time I make sure to find little pockets throughout the day to can squeeze these little things in. I like that creativity in some form is built into every day for me.

Thanks again, to James for his time answers my questions. Go play with OH no Type Co fonts on Adobe Fonts, or directly from their website.