Imagine a typeface that doesn't just convey words on a page, but actually traces the paths of planets and stars across the night sky—welcome to Solæ, a breathtaking astrological font that captures the wonder of the cosmos in every letter. But here's where it gets fascinating: this isn't just any design; it's the culmination of years of creative evolution, blending historical roots with modern flair, and it's sparking conversations about how art can echo the universe itself.
The inspiration for Solæ, the latest creation from Paris-based graphic designer and art director Gwennina Moigne (whose website you can explore at https://gwenninamoigne.com/), sprouted during a typography assignment in her master's program back in 2018. The task was a creative revival exercise centered on a single page from a 1904 publication titled Imprimerie Nationale, where students were challenged to transform this vintage text into a fresh, contemporary piece. For beginners diving into typography, think of it as reimagining an old recipe to create a brand-new gourmet dish—taking historical ingredients (like classic fonts) and experimenting to make something innovative and timely.
Gwennina never felt fully done with this project, which is why she revisited it in 2020, right after the initial wave of national COVID-19 lockdowns. Eager to elevate her earlier trials, she aimed to develop a complete, usable set of letters. 'Across multiple years, I tinkered with various iterations, pushing myself to diverge from the source while preserving its essence. My goal was to infuse it with a personal, emotive touch,' she explains. And this is the part most people miss: the sheer patience required in solo creative endeavors, where doubts creep in but trust in your process keeps you going.
Through countless adjustments—fine-tuning kerning (the space between letters for visual harmony), tracking (overall spacing in a line of text), and other tweaks—Gwennina birthed Solæ (available at https://blazetype.eu/typefaces/solae), a font paying homage to Louis XIV, the legendary Sun King. Its letterforms draw from celestial motifs: 'stars, constellations, and heavenly shapes,' as she puts it. For those new to design, these elements mean the curves in the letters mimic the graceful arcs of planetary orbits, while ligatures—special connections between letters, like joining 'f' and 'i' to form 'fi'—evoke the fleeting trails of shooting stars. The subtle contrasts in thickness bring to mind twinkling constellations. Gwennina even crafted a Rotalic style (a rotated italic variant, differing from standard slanted italics by turning letters on an axis), which beautifully represents the looping paths of celestial orbits.
As a project that unfolded over an extended period, Gwennina enjoyed the freedom to manually redraw each character from her reference font, delving deep into its mechanics. 'The original Romain du Roi adhered to a strict grid system, but I sought to liberate it from that constraint, making it more fluid and adaptable for today's uses,' she shares. This hands-on approach helped clarify complex ideas for me as a designer—grids are like invisible blueprints that dictate where lines and curves go, ensuring uniformity, but breaking free allows for more expressive, organic shapes.
While adapting the original's proportions and endpoints to establish Solæ's distinctive flow, Gwennina became particularly obsessed with glyphs—the individual symbols or characters in a font. 'The deep dive into ligatures, where I've created one for every pair of uppercase letters, is what really sets this alphabet apart,' she reveals. 'The complete family supports about 100 languages and boasts 2,082 glyphs, encompassing numerous ligatures, alternative styles, inclusive writing symbols, astrological icons, and lunar cycle representations.' Amidst these countless decisions, the toughest hurdle in her independent venture was 'maintaining uniformity and self-assurance over such an extended timeline.'
Much like many personal creative pursuits, Solæ grew alongside freelance gigs and other responsibilities, leading to a gradual pace with occasional months-long pauses. 'Whenever I reopened the project files,' Gwennina confides, 'I second-guessed my prior choices, which taught me to have faith in my earlier instincts and embrace the font's natural growth.' Upon reaching its polished state, she teamed up with Blaze Type to release it publicly, accompanied by a striking poster series marking 'the close of an incredibly lengthy endeavor,' as she describes.
To celebrate, Gwennina extended 'carte blanche'—complete creative freedom—to 12 admired designers and studios, each tasked with designing a poster featuring Solæ and a selected zodiac sign. The collaborators included Fakepaper, Élise Rigollet, Clémence Gouy, Eschenlauer Sinic, Odds Studio, Choque Le Goff, Pierre Vanni, République Studio, Task Office, Aletheia, Marine Buffard, and Maison Solide. The outcomes are truly spectacular—a vibrant burst of colors and imaginative layouts that highlight the meticulous craftsmanship behind Solæ. Each artist adapted the font to their distinct style, demonstrating its flexibility. 'Seeing my creation transform into a medium for others' innovation was profoundly heartwarming,' Gwennina shares.
The project's climax was a launch gathering in Paris this September, uniting all the posters in a single exhibit. 'It felt like a genuine festivity, drawing in numerous folks from the design world. As creative professionals, we rarely get to unveil our work and share it with an audience properly. These kinds of moments hold immense value,' she concludes. But here's where it gets controversial: in an era where digital tools can generate fonts in minutes, is there still room for this level of handcrafted passion, or does it risk becoming outdated? Some might argue that AI-driven designs could democratize creativity, while others cherish the soulful depth of human effort like Solæ's. What do you think—does preserving artisanal methods in typography matter in a fast-paced world, or should we embrace shortcuts? I'd love to hear your thoughts in the comments—do you side with tradition, or does innovation trump all?
