Lacks unity IMHO. The angled letters have a runic feel that doesn't mesh with the rounded letters from Gill.

I think it's interesting -- it seems to have some elements of some of the earlier Emigre typefaces like Manson/Mason, with a hint of Electrix and Lunatix. I think I'd like Vidage more if it was more its own thing, and didn't have characters that look so much like Gill (in particular, the lowercase "t").

Yeah, what a strange font. I'm not sure I get what it's about, and somehow I'm reluctant to believe there is no point behind its range of differing structures.

Some details are awesome – I am very excited about its "g". And the "q" is interesting too. And the "M" seems very Jack Usine.
To my eye, they just all seem to belong to slightly different fonts. :-\

We loves it we does

What it's about: Jack is heavily influenced by vintage lettering seen on signs in France. Check out his fantastic Jules Vernacular and you can see some of the forms that inspired Vidange. It's not a text face, folks. It's meant to be wacky.

The "a" kind of destroys the whole thing.

The smallcaps caught my interest; they look more like a coherent design somehow. This face might be best suited for all-caps uses, with the lowercase treated as ancillary just in case you need a lowercase character or two.

Thanks for the link, Stewf. Vindange makes much more sense in that context.

Yer. That’s wacky is what I thought until I saw by whom it was.

I like Vidange and I love Jules Vernacular.

-=®=-

Good points. FWIW, I know (and have used some of) Jack's previous work, and love Jules Vernacular too; somehow my eyes still get a bit seasick from trying to reconcile the rounds and angles. Maybe it's just me.

Me not like at all. (But I am a grumpy old guy, so what do I know…)

. . .
Bert Vanderveen BNO

>I am a grumpy old guy, so what do I know

Hey, that's wisdom, don't knock it. As James Brown used to sing:

:: SAY LOUD! :: I'M OLD AND I'M PROUD! ::

Or something like that :)

Wow, Stephen, with that background the forms make a lot of sense. I'm a fan. I can't think how I would ever recommend it to a client, but it's pretty great.

to be cliche, when your local goth-club is seeking a new identity... Vidange!

Wow. I like this one:

That should totally be cleaned up and turned into a font.

extra awkward, although the lowercase g is rather elegant.

...grumpy old guy...

There are some young fogies here too :-)

***

It works for me, except when a sequence of letters is all Gill, e.g. "topic".
I'm like, why did the font change?

Was it Mark Twain who once said: Wagner's music is not as bad as it sounds.
If it does not look great before the explanations, why would it look great afterwards?

If you have an immediate dislike for something, are you condemned to despise it for eternity?

Nope, you are right, Nick. Can I please dislike it until at least Monday?

If it does not look great before the explanations, why would it look great afterwards?

Because type appreciation is cutural. The explanation allows me to appreciate why someone would design a font like this, why he thought that there are designers who might use it, and why he thought people wouldn’t have too much trouble reading it when they encounter it. I still wouldn’t use Vidange—it just isn’t my cup of rather orderly tea. But, having seen the photos that inspired it, I’m sure that there are plenty of designers in France who would just love to use Vidange.

I used to hate how a Les Paul looked. Until I realized that the very nature of the Les Paul defines what cool is. If it plays awesome, is awesomely useable, sounds great, works in any number of settings, etc., then almost magically it starts to look awesome as well.

Except for Vidange, which I don't think is that great because it doesn't look like it works for anything other than English Choral music filtered through a ring harmonizer.

And that, my friends, is my personal interpretation of a David Berlow post. :)

Dan, you’ve made me realize that I could use Dave’s posts as nonsense text in type specimens.

James, I believe that in things visual and subjective (as well as in music), if you have to explain it at length, you've already lost.

You've lost what? Or who? Subjectivity by definition means that some (given their background, culture, experience) might appreciate a piece of work while others will not. Vidange is not Gotham.

Your public, Stephen? As in customers or consumers?

From another old fogey--Or as the Beatles would say, "Let it Be".

ChrisL

Thanks, Chris. Shall do :)

Me likes. Bucketloads. Fresh and unexpected. Puts you on the wrong foot; a sneaky, clever design. It is what it is -- no explanation needed, although knowing the cultural background is a nice bonus. Jack Usine is an original voice, and people comparing him to Barnbrook are only skimming the surface, they don't look closely enough. It's like saying TheSerif is too similar to PMN Caecilia. It only does so on the surface -- TheSerif is a decidedly masculine design while PMN Caecilia is unmistakenly feminine. Look closer.

Three days a go I went to a Wim Helsen show, a brilliant Belgian stand-up comedian (although he does defy categorisation). Amongst the jokes and physical comedy there are some awkward and even truly painful moments, plus he gives the audience quite a bit of existential stuff to reflect upon. If you are a softie like me by the end you'll have shed the odd emotional tear. People could argue that he failed as a stand-up comedian, because when you leave you realise you only laughed two-thirds of the time. But then it hits you that more than just laughing you have felt something, genuine emotions; that your heart is restless, that you want to do something, also with your life, and three days later you still have that existential stuff rummaging through your head.

I like type that makes me feel something. I don't know yet what I could use Vidange for, but boy does it make me feel alive.

I you want to read a small summary of an interview with Jack Usine and Fanny Garcia, you can download here – http://www.slanted.de/eintrag/middle-nowhere – at the end of the text an english and french pdf-version.

I don't really like it that much.

ok, so sure i have no idea where i would use it, but vidage is growing on me.

"What do we think of Vidange?" I don't think it was Nick's original intent, but the phrasing suggest (at least to me) that typophiles can't make up their own mind without consulting the general opinion.

I'm sure he meant "What do you think of Vidange?"

The function of this for of advertising is working - like Simon, it is growing on me! Si, thanks for the link. Awesome.

I meant Typophiles in general individually. ;^)

Nick Cooke

'course, Nick :)

To me it looks very well hand-crafted.

Here's what the creator thinks of it:

Good on him, he has a sense of humour.

Nice one.

paragraph: That's because he take his inspiration from things like manhole covers.

I agree with you Bald Condensed.

The 'strange' lowercase a reminded me of the 'original' shapes for Futura