N✡4 - Happy Little Accidents cleverly uses the directional nature of the lowercase “t” and indents the words that lead with it in this heading inside of the 10th issue of Horizonte Journal. It creates an approachable but unknowable presence for the typeface, much like the tone of the artwork in the exhibition, which is abstract and unconventional. The juxtapositions of the bulky stiltedness of characters like the “j” and “t” keep you off-balance when contrasted with the lovely geometric shapes and the offset oval counters in many of the letterforms. But it is Proto’s connection to the quirky art showcased in the poster that really makes the type pairing sing. Designer Emmanuel Labard pairs it with a condensed weight of Franklin Gothic, and the two grotesques play well weight each other due to their shared ancestry. L’Atelier collectif made brilliant use of it in the branding for L’Autre de l’art, a cross-discipline exhibition held at the LaM in France. Proto Grotesk’s quirky nature enable it to evoke or mirror the personality of the other type and imagery placed around it. N✡0 - The 10th issue of Horizonte Journal pairs the more restrained Atlas Grotesk with Proto Grotesk Bold, and the two feel familial, with Proto serving as the more boisterous sibling to Atlas’ straight-laced personality. It showcases how crisp and voluptuous the font is, and I could have only illustrated this review with examples from that issue and it would have done Proto Grotesk justice. Proto’s Bold weight is loud but avoids feeling cold or overbearing at these large sizes because of how the strokes thin to nearly vanishing as they take their curves. In the interior spreads, article titles are set vertically in Proto Grotesk Bold, the unique orientation allowing for more vertical space for the photography, which is striking and evocative. Proto Grotesk’s high contrast makes it perfect for display use and extremely large sizes, and it was Gail Bichler and Matt Willey’s use of it for the 2016 Money Issue of the New York Times Magazine that made me fall in love with the typeface. N✠9 The different character of Proto Grotesk’s uppercase and lowercase characters, particularly when it comes to the “G’s”. The upturned ear pull the emphasis of the letter upward and nicely offsets the weight of the lower half and gives the whole design a cheery presence.
The lowercase “g” is similarly full of charm, the gorgeous round shape of the top bowl offsetting the stretched shapes underneath and preventing the letter from feeling too irregular. It’s rare to find a design so simple yet so impossible to ignore. I particularly appreciate how the stroke is thicker on the lower terminal to bring more subtle emphasis to that area to reinforce that it’s a “G” and not a “C”. This lovely carry-over from Gothic № 1 and 2 straddles the line of legibility (the default “C” in Proto has a very wide aperture, which I suspect is an attempt to differentiate it from the tighter “G”) but it’s going to do work for you if you can give it the space to perform. If you’ve come across this typeface there’s a decent chance you noticed it because of that minimal “G” with its bottom-wedge. I’m going to dedicate this first paragraph to the G’s in this typeface, because they encompass many of my favorite qualities of this typeface. It’s a typeface of contradictions and abnormalities and yet it all works. In researching for this review I’ve been pleasantly surprised at the myriad of ways people have used it, and how subtle it can be in the right hands. Proto Grotesk is gorgeous at large-scale-its supple letterforms can be the hero of a composition-or it can be subdued, taking on a charming vibe as a secondary or body-text typeface. It can be beautiful but it’s always meant to make you feel slightly uncomfortable. I love typefaces like this that can seem fairly understated in one setting, but when the right characters are deployed you realize just how odd a typeface it is. It embraces geometry while maintaining its grotesque roots, and remains legible despite its quirks and unique details. It’s both friendly and alien, historic yet sharply mechanical.
It’s got a sharp thick-to-thin contrast (even in the lighter weights, which is a rarity) and in the bolder weights the oval shaped counters swell up like bubbles.
Proto Grotesk oozes with personality, combining some very old-school grotesque characteristics with a quirky, modern sensibility to create something that feels brand-spanking new. This is a typeface you buy because there are a handful of characters that are so distinct you can’t wait to find an excuse to use them. Proto Grotesk is defined by its “G’s”-The uppercase, which resembles a “C” with a goatee, and the stunning stacked “g”, with it’s massive lower bowl that anchors the letterform from below the baseline.