Michaux — a Plain Form type family

·{ Plain Form }·

Michaux

generated and selected by

Benjamin Dumond

Three
weights

Ca. 560 glyphs
per font

Supports
219 languages

2014
— 2024

↑
Drawings from
«Mouvements», 1935.
Gallimard, Paris

— { About Michaux : : ONE } —

Michaux, Henri

Before delving into the history and theories of esotericism and the relationship between magic and writing, it was the work of Henri Michaux that opened Benjamin Dumond’s eyes to the mysterious nature of letters. Michaux, Belgian writer, poet and painter from the 20th century, led a solitary quest to methodically approach a language free of dogmas, whether through texts or images.

He produced numerous paintings depicting signs of various forms and densities, often in black and white, bordering between letters and abstract symbols. Henri Michaux explored the frontier of writing, as if writing in an unknown language, with narratives that remain forever unattainable.

←
Drawings from
«Mouvements», 1935.
Gallimard, Paris

La nuit remue

{ 1935 }
— Gallimard —
Paris

Plume, précédé de Lointain intérieur

{ 1938 }
— Gallimard —
Paris

L'Espace du dedans

{ 1944 }
— Gallimard —
Paris

Épreuves, exorcismes

{ 1945 }
— Gallimard —
Paris

Ailleurs

{ 1948 }
— Gallimard —
Paris

Les Grandes
Épreuves de l'esprit

{ 1966 }
— Gallimard —
Paris

Face aux verrous

{ 1954 }
— Gallimard —
Paris

Connaissance
par les gouffres

{ 1961 }
— Gallimard —
Paris

La Vie dans les plis

{ 1949 }
— Gallimard —
Paris

Face à ce qui se dérobe

{ 1975 }
— Gallimard —
Paris

Déplacements dégagements

{ 1985 }
— Gallimard —
Paris

Affrontements

{ 1986 }
— Gallimard —
Paris

↑
Drawings from
«Mouvements», 1935.
Gallimard, Paris

— { About Michaux : : TWO } —

Loss of control

In his explorations, Henri Michaux consumed a variety of psychedelic substances under medical supervision. It was a way to allow himself to be overwhelmed, to no longer be entirely in control and, by extension, controlled.

Inspired by Michaux’s practice but replacing psychedelics with computer-induced chance, Benjamin began by generating ten thousand random signs, each consisting of three strokes, straight or curved, then selected those which looked like letters. After hours and hours of looking through those signs and dozens of alternative choices for each letter, a complete character set emerged. Born from purely subjective judgment, the result would have been greatly different if done by someone else with different tastes and preconceptions.

→
Generated signs

TEN
THOUSAND
WAYS
OF BEING

DESIGN
Benjamin Dumond

TEAM
Lucas Descroix

FOUNDRY
Plain Form

TRY & BUY
plain-form.com

STROKE
by
STROKE

========================================================================
=====[ J'écris pour qu'on ait pas à me voir  ]============================
========================================================================
Scum Systems.....54.11.4.209.         Ruínas dél Edén.........54.11.4.742.
Wicked EE.........54.11.4.XXX.         Demonioz Inkautoz......54.11.4.XXX.
Utumno Systems..54.11.4.XXX.         General Disturbi0......54.11.4.GAT.OS
Black World.......54.11.4.XXX.         Helmet in the Bush.....54.11.4.XXX.
Destierro..........54.11.4.XXX.         Hiphop With Satan.....54.11.4.FTW.NOW
                    ...Feel at home in our black conventicle...
`—————-————————————-————————————--————————————-————'
Plume Inc,. 2014-24
Donnez moi un prix Nobel de Paix...

               Maintenant la photo. C'est extraordinaire, cette manie des
               photos. J'ai écrit pour qu'on puisse justement se passer
               d'une photo de moi. Me suis-je assez montré ! Eh bien qu'est-ce
               qu'il leur faut encore ? Je vais justement faire faire une
               radioscopie de mes poumons car ça ne va pas fort là-dedans.
               Je la lui enverrai, et un agrandissement de mon nombril.

— LITTÉRATURE ———————————————————————————— LITTÉRATURE —
 From : Henri Michaux              4:900/109             Wed 25 May 94 23:06
 To    : Journaliste Lambda
 Subj : RE: Demande de photos
—————————————————————————————————————————————————

Criticisms
Maintainer
Tombstone
Millilitres
Reflexives
Hypnotism

Ritualising
Evergreens
Surrenders
Advantages
Imprecisely
Concoction

Exhaustion
Starveling
Connoisseur
Temporising
Bluejackets
Quintuplets

Someone
wants to
steal my name

———\/———
·~{ GREAT DEAL }~·
———/\———

Photons

Electromagnetic,
weak & gravity

|
, · ' * ' · ,
Excellent quality,
perfect for double-slit
experiments
!

———\/———

·~{ QUARK }~·

———/\———

Strange

Strong, Electromagnetic,
weak & gravity

|
, · ' * ' · ,
Compatible with all Hadrons
don't let it get close
with strange
antiquarks
!

———\/———
·~{ BTYZIXO°** }~·
———/\———

Graviton

*£^ù"à%!:?;;., ???,
´~#{[@|^]} & !!!

|
, · ' * ' · ,
Tyizjdsknca,
UEzioaiI f0r REiajI
Sxuizzz
!

A B C D E F G H I J
K L M N O P Q R S
T U V W X Y Z
—
a b c d e f g h i j
k l m n o p q r s
t u v w x y z

Uncarved

BLOCK

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↑
Changing thickness of regular glyphs

— { About Michaux : : THREE } —

No more norms

When trying to increase or decrease the weight of the selected glyphs, the signs, whose legibility depended on a few hints, lost all logic. With the thickness of the strokes modified they were rendered unrecognizable. In order to create the additional weights, Benjamin generated another two sets of ten thousand variations, one with heavier and one with thinner strokes, and started the selection process all over again.

Therefore, none of the glyphs share a common structure — as opposed to our calligraphic tradition, with for example letters such as “m” and ”n” sharing a gesture, a ductus. And neither do the different weights. Each and every sign is unique in its structure; the typeface holds together thanks to the radical rules of its generative process that visually bind the system and makes it coherent.

←
Changing thickness of regular glyphs

           __
          / /\
         / /  \
        / /    \________
       / /      \        /\
      /_/        \      / /
 ____\ \      ___\___/_/
/_____\ \    /________/\
\       \ \   \          \ \
 \       \ \   \____     \ \
  \     / \ \  /  / \     \ \
   \   /   \_\/  / /       \ \
    \ /          / /_______\/
     /          / /    \
    /          / /     /
   /________/ / \   /
   \________\/ \ \ /
                  \_\

(•)
/ / / \ \ \

Being and non-being
create each other

\ \ \ / / /
(•)

(•)
/ / / \ \ \

Difficult and easy
complete each other

\ \ \ / / /
(•)

(•)
/ / / \ \ \

Tone and voice
harmonize each other

\ \ \ / / /
(•)

(•)
/ / / \ \ \

Before and after
follow each other

\ \ \ / / /
(•)

CONNAISSANCE PAR LES GOUFFRES

Toute drogue modifie vos appuis. L'appui que vous preniez sur vos sens, l'appui que vos sens prenaient sur le monde, l'appui que vous preniez sur votre impression générale d'être. Ils cèdent. Une vaste redistribution de la sensibilité se fait, qui rend tout bizarre, une complexe, continuelle redistribution de la sensibilité. Vous sentez moins ici, et davantage là. Où « ici » ? Où « là » ? Dans des dizaines d'« ici », dans des dizaines de « là », que vous ne vous connaissiez pas, que vous ne reconnaissez pas. Zones obscures qui étaient claires. Zones légères qui étaient lourdes. Ce n'est plus à vous que vous aboutissez, et la réalité, les objets même, perdant leur masse et leur raideur, cessent d'opposer une résistance sérieuse à l'omniprésente mobilité transformatrice.

· · · · · Des abandons paraissent, de petits (la drogue vous chatouille d'abandons), de grands aussi. Certains s'y plaisent. Paradis, c'est-à-dire abandon. Vous subissez de multiples, de différentes invitations à lâcher… Voilà ce que les drogues fortes ont en commun et aussi que c'est toujours le cerveau qui prend les coups, qui observe ses coulisses, ses ficelles, qui joue petit et grand jeu, et qui, ensuite, prend du recul, un singulier recul.

HENRI MICHAUX, 1961.

Magic in Dungeons & Dragons

Many-worlds interpretation

Technological singularity

Carbon capture and storage

List of plants with symbolism

Atiyah–Singer index theorem

Glossary of video game terms

Hagen–Poiseuille equation

Berserk: The Golden Age Arc

Network address translation

In the FOLDS

↑
Various
pre-release uses
ca. 2014-2023

— { About Michaux : : FOUR } —

Second generation

Michaux, the typeface, started with a first version in 2014 as part of Benjamin Dumond’s bachelor project, where he tried to apply to typedesign some of Henri Michaux’s ideas. “The mere ambition to make a poem is enough to kill it” — how could one create letters without trying to? At the time, the experiment was conducted with only a thousand signs and resulted in a reduced glyphset.

Lying dormant for almost a decade but serving as a lively foundation, constant reference and source of inspiration for Benjamin Dumond, Michaux was revived with the help of Lucas Descroix for its release on Plain Form.

→
Various
pre-release uses
ca. 2014-2023

Contingency
Disengaged
Stableness
Diplomatics
Barbarians
Apocalypses

Physiologic
Interlunar
Duplicator
Visitations
Journeying
Testaments

Acidulates
Gentlefolk
Lusciously
Undersigns
Retractile
Polemicist

The Probability of Induction

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````````````````````````````‹‹‹‹‹*l¯¯*lll*¯¯*****¯*‡33l**¯‹````````````‹```¯*lll‡366ÞÞÇ66Þ6ü3‡ll‹‹`

· . · . · . · . · . · . · . · . · . · . · . · . · . · . · . · . · . · . · . · . · . · . · . · . · . · . · . · . · . · . · . · . · . · . · . · . · . · . · . · . · . · . · . · . · . · . · .

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MICHAUX

. . . . . . . . . . .

3 weights

. . . . . . . . . . .

Aa, Bb, Cc
Aa, Bb, Cc
Aa, Bb, Cc

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}
. , ; : ~ : ; , .

BUY !

! ' · . , . · ' !
{

{
. , ; : ~ : ; , .

TRY !

! ' · . , . · ' !
}

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WEBSITE
DESIGN & DEVELOPMENT
Benjamin Dumond

WITH HELP FROM
Lucas Descroix

TEXTS
Benjamin Dumond,
Henri Michaux