The Present Group wanted a generative identity system that could be used not just to identify the organization itself, but also individual projects and initiatives without having to design each from scratch, while maintaining a consistent brand throughout. They wanted something that showed a marriage of craft and technology, old and new (past, present and future).

I created a monospace font where the height and width of the space occupied by each character is based on the golden ratio. The points of each triangular character are based on the letterforms of the (modified) Emblem typeface in their logo and placed using a grid system inside each letter space. In this way it utilizes the characteristics of early computer typefaces, the structure of modernist design, and the proportions of classical art all at once, while distilling an alphabetical system down to nature’s simplest closed geometrical shape. It’s art, design, technology, and math all wrapped up into one neat little minimalist package that has the added benefit of layering really precisely.