Rob Hillier
Norwich School of Art and Design
and
Robert de Niet
The Surrey Institute of Art and Design

Circs
Date of development: 1996 - 2000
Digital Prints from CD presentation

Circs is a display typeface. It is also a series of forms which exist to be looked at. Function gives way to aesthetic.
The project currently takes the form of a CD Rom, and there are plans to extend the format with the preparation of a book. The files you have received contain two A2 posters showing four frames from the CD Rom.

Circumstantial Evidence is a joint project between Rob Hillier and Robert de Niet. The project attempts to explain the process involved in the design of a new typeface called Circs. The project is experimental in approach and is concerned with the production of blobs and blots created under semi-controlled conditions.
The resulting blobs are analysed "to discover" any potential letterform characteristics. This analysis involves no additional design manipulation other than looking and cropping.
In this approach to letterform design, the designer generates chance marks which already contain letterforms waiting to be discovered. The designer's task is to observe and make manifest a simple, unforced possibility for visual transformation.
The organic and often rounded form of the blobs gave rise to the naming of the typeface Circs.