Understanding typography is becoming more important, with the use of different typefaces being more or less appropriate in certain situations. But how familiar is a print designer with different typefaces? Are they so knowledgeable that they can recognize typefaces in a pair of glasses?
A new collection of glasses has been released by advertising agency Wieden+Kennedy's Tokyo arm and retailer Oh My Glasses with typefaces Eurostile, Optima, Friz Quadrata and Serif Gothic all being turned into wearable glasses frames.
"As the choice of typeface affects expression in written communication, subtle design differences in eyeglasses frames change the impression of the person who wears them," says the company on its website. "Our glasses brand, TYPE, was inspired by the similarities between the function and design of typefaces and glasses. Each product was named after the typeface which inspired the frame design."
Not only are the frames available in different typefaces, but they're also available in light, regular and bold. The collection is an expansion of the frames that were released last year in typefaces Helvetica and Garamond.
The interesting thing about the glasses is not that they are inspired by typefaces, but that they actually lift design elements from typefaces for the design of the glasses.
The Helvetica design, for example, is subtle, and blends into the facial features of the wearer. This is similar to how Helvetica has started being used a lot, blending into our world. It's easy to look at, stylish and subtle.
The Garamond line of glasses, by comparison is much more present. It specifically takes a lot of design cues from the typeface. For example, the link of the lowercase g is very similar to the nosepiece of the glasses.
Like Helvetica, the Optima design is more inspired by the tone of the typeface rather than lifting specific design elements. The Optima design seems to match the Optima typeface well, despite the fact that it's hard to discern specific elements of the design in the glasses.
Each model is available either in sunglass form or as normal glasses, and frames come in black, tortoise or clear. The glasses are available now from the TYPE website, starting from $200 each.
