Motter Air
2010, by Siegmund Motter

At the start there was the idea to design a display font. Its aim was to visualise dynamic energy and the forward motion. Looking at it one should immediately associate with things like wind, storm, sailing, gliding and speed. Moreover, the font should be modelled for unique trademarks.

A number of conceptual designs were created. There were several quite differently designed rough drafts (raw layouts). On the downside all dynamic designs had a particularly messy typeface in common. The letters were too wide (especially M, W) and too slanting, the bottom parts were too long and awkward, especially the ones pointing in the opposite direction. Generally, the typeface didn’t seem homogeneous and off-key. On the other hand, the 15 people who tested it, all of which were not graphic artists as well as some primary school children, were able to read the lines. This encouraged me to continue on my quest.

Compared to the earlier designs the slope of the letters was much reduced. The bottom parts were drastically shortened and the shapes standardised. This was a way to minimise problems with the setting, without immolating the particular characteristics of the typeface. The three-story letters B, E, S and s were dragged under the base line in order to avoid a gradual optical “blackening” of the inside of the letters.