A 1930’s Font Gets Revived as Wood Type & Digital Fonts

In 2010, designer Craig Welsh began working with AIGA Medalist Elaine Lustig Cohen in an effort to bring back a font that was originally designed by Elaine’s late husband, AIGA Medalist Alvin Lustig, in the 1930s. The font, originally called Euclid, has been refreshed over the last 5+ years by the two, and is now called Lustig Elements.

Part of the revival, and their Kickstarter campaign, is releasing a series of prints and other goods with the Lustig Elements font. Their hope is to cut new wood type at the famed Hamilton Wood Type & Printing Museum for use in letterpress printing, while also developing new Lustig Elements digital fonts with P22 Type Foundry, to include Lustig Elements Regular, Lustig Elements Small Caps, and Lustig Elements Inline. And finally, they’re hoping to make a short film about the Lustig Elements font that features Elaine Lustig Cohen.

Sketches

Craig Welsh, Nicholas Stover, and Elaine Lustig Conhen working on the early renderings of the font

Prototype Lustig Elements patterns and wood type

If you’re liking what you seeing and want to be, and have, a part of history, pledge to their Kickstarter campaign!

Craig and Elaine reviewing

Set of 3 Notebooks reward

Caroline Williamson is the former Editor-in-Chief of Design Milk and a writer with a passion for modern design, architecture, and creative culture. She holds a BFA in photography from the Savannah College of Art and Design (SCAD) and can usually be found searching for vintage wares, solving New York Times crossword puzzles in pen, or curating Spotify playlists.

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