@19

A redesign would be drawing each letter from scratch and not pulling an existing face into Fontlab and tweaking.... is this the case here? Rod or no Rod, which is it? Tweak or new drawing?

@18. Anonymous

If Rod McDonald put his name on this project, I think it is safe to say that this is a legit re-design and not a simple tweak.

@17— it depends on degree. I think what bothers some people is the statement "new typeface called H&W Grotesque" when most designers are very familiar with this type family.

There were more noticeable alterations done to Helvetica to get Arial! This one is way too close to the original be marketed it as a proprietary new typeface.

The remodeling of a typeface is not so hard anymore with the right software, which is why you see so many "new typefaces" in student portfolios.

@ 16. Anonymous

You are right, we don't need names to have a productive debate. In my opinion even a re-design of a font IS hard hard work. Tweaking letter forms and having them render and read well is not an easy task. It be interesting to know exactly what was tweaked and how much it differs from the original — I find it hard to believe that any established design firm would be as bold to call a font there own if in fact is isn't. I assume a lot of time and hard work was involved here.

Very true @Angelo. Debate make us all better. This one brings up an important issue: how much should a typeface be modified before someone can claim it is custom?

In my opinion, this is only a slightly modified version of another professional typographer's hard hard work. H&W would be wise not to lay claim to it. They wouldn't slightly modify another company's logo and claim that it is their design. H&W clients will think that they created this font from scratch as they would not be familiar with the original like the DE community.

Dan claims he has the "stones" for putting his first name. So what! You could just make any name up! We don't know who Dan is. Everyone's opinion on a forum should be respected if it is written in a constructive way (which most of these anon comments are)

@Dan, Tyler and Nancy:

That's the stuff!

The level of dialogue on these DE posts has improved vastly over the past two years due to the need to push ourselves forward to think and analysis effectively, thanks to the effort of those of you who will. Keep this up, and Canadian Design will be in great hands in the future.

@dan

I don't think anyone is saying H&W isn't a great design house (an opinion) — its record speaks for itself (a fact). Hopefully everyone in our industry strives to do their best (that would be an opinion, although shared by many).

H&W, by showcasing their new typeface, have opened themselves up to peer scrutiny (another fact). Some may argue that the modifications they made to Grotesque were appropriate and will fawn over much needed finessing of a hard-working face and others will ask if it is really worth the time and effort (this too is a fact).

I'm hoping that everyone can see the need to push oneself forward and strive for perfection in our crazy, ever-changing business (an opinion).

Good for H&W for moving forward (an opinion).

@Anonymous I'd like to see the work of someone who puts down H&W. I've seen many of their projects and they are top notch for the most part, in my opinion.

We all have opinions for sure, but don't let yourself mistake your opinion for fact.

So they wanted to make a custom typeface, great. What did you do today?

Keep doing what you're doing H&W!

Sincerely,
Someone who at least has the stones to put his first name on this comment.

Can we see pics of the interior space please!!

How Martha Stewart of you two - Barb and Bob (and Rod) to redefine your move, your space, your celebration of the years in the business and excellence in design. To take on a type re-design requires a mountain of effort and consideration for the original type designer and their reasons for what they did.

If this was nothing more than an exercise to sharpen one's skills then bravo! But to redefine the face and then get to use it in your own communications certainly separates the wheat from the chaff.

@Danny

I believe Toni was being facetious.

@8. Anonymous

Your comment makes me believe you are not apart of the ad/design industry, or your concept of the word "Brand" is very limited.

Selling a service requires a "Brand", whether you are selling plane tickets or hotdogs.

@Danny: H&W brand? They aren't an airline! Why does a small design studio in Toronto even need a custom font? Seems likes they just did it because they had the software.

@Ben:

Yes indeed, "why bother" ... it's an institutional (directional) signage, nothing more. I believe the crickets have been chirping since time immemorial?

Every typeface, design, illustration, photograph, etc is derived from something. So do not dismiss the typeface simply because you do not like Helvetica. I agree with Toni, the font is familiar yet different, it seems very suitable for the H&W brand. I think this is a great asset that any design studio would be grateful to have.

Not to slight H&M, because it's a good house, but with the abundance of faces that exist and the focused dedication required for quality font creation, I'm not sure if dabbling in this area is something clinets would actually anti-up for, unless they were a national or multi-national account. Was the font created from scratch in FontLab or was it an existing import to Fontlab and just "tweeked"? That's a very important distinction and one where the original designer should be given credit. The article doesn't go that deep into its creation but only hints at it with the mention of Rod's helping out.

Everyone would like to change a little something on existing standard faces. Looking at the sample, I think they still have a way to go with their kerning pairs:

G and u, q and u, o and t to name a few.

@toni — lol, you made me laugh.

I quite like the new font, it's familiar yet a bit different. When I first saw it before reading the article it felt calm, homey even. Looked familiar but yet I couldn't place it. It was different.

Can hear the crickets chirping on this one. Angelo... you can subscribe to the "if you don't have anything nice to say..." mantra if you wish, but if you're going to release a typeface and all you have is a stab at helvy, then as you said; "why bother?"

However, I love the pig and sheep silhouettes and the red.

If you're going to take a shot at H&W you'll have to do a little better than that to substantiate your point? Not that I don't disagree, but why bother if that's all you have -- try it, it's called dialogue with your peers?

Seriously?! It's a very slight modification of Helvetica... nothing more!