If the output of Japanese foundries represented on MyFonts is anything to go by, Nagoya must be the number one font city in Japan. Not only has Ray Larabie established his Typodermic foundry here; it is also home to Flat-It, one of our most prolific microfoundries specializing in lively retro and script fonts. Flat-It is run by Ryoichi Tsunekawa, who also created two specialist labels — Prop-A-Ganda and Holiday Type — to celebrate and market letterforms inspired by… well, propaganda and holidays. His taste is eclectic, his skills are remarkable, his production is huge. Meet Ryoichi Tsunekawa, architect of display fonts.

"Among your peers in type design, whom do you admire?"

Ryoichi, you seem to have a broad range of interests: you were trained as an architect and engineer, and worked in that capacity for some time. How did you get from there to designing fonts?

Since my childhood, I have always had an interest in paintings, art and design, especially abstract forms such as geometric repeating patterns. When studying in college, I learned a lot about the development of design through the history of architecture. I didn’t study type design in class, but learned a lot about trends and the essence of these movements through architecture.

Architecture inspired me to learn more about typefaces. Architecture reflects the trend or mood of a particular time. For example De Stijl, Art Deco and Modernism have been cutting-edge design movements, and each was also reflected in architecture. At the same time, classical design styles are also found in architecture throughout history. In short, I think architecture is a kind of permanent design exhibition.

Typefaces are also very important in the presentation of architectural work. When preparing presentations of my architectural designs at university, I always worried about what font to use in order to make the presentation more appealing. I did not like using the same fonts as other people; I remember I used to stare at catalogues from foundries all over the world every day. Sometimes I would end up designing my own fonts. I guess that is how I started to create my own typefaces.

So how did you get to be a full-time type designer?

L'auteur du site ? Bah, c'est moi, quelle question :-p
Je vais essayer de faire le meilleur site du monde (ça doit pas être bien compliqué). Mon objectif est d'attirer un maximum de visiteurs, de les rendre accros à mon site, puis de les mettre en mon pouvoir.
Je prendrai ensuite le contrôle du Monde. Une fois que ce sera fait, j'irai explorer les confins de l'Univers à la recherche de nouveaux peuples à soumettre à ma terrible puissance. MooUUuUuuUAhahHaaAhAAaaah !!! (rire diabolique).