According to Marlon, a multi-layer typeface is a typeface that is “composed of two complementary layers”. In practice, this means that “each letter consists of simple shapes and of two complementary layers, which can be colored separately. In displays of the typeface, Marlon has shown how dynamic and striking it can be, with a variety of satisfying (sometimes clashing and sometimes complementary) color combinations – royal blue and pure white, pink and olive green, light yellow and jet black.
Despite the typeface’s dynamic and intriguingly complex finish, Marlon tells It’s Nice That that it was actually quite simple to create. Being based on simple shapes and a rigid grid, the letters developed easily as a uniform set, making it possible to create both upper and lower case letters with it. Again, paying homage to the stacking bed by Wolf Heide with its combination of angular edges and rounded points, the typeface appears to have the ability to stack itself. And when it is used to create words, it appears both linguistically and artistically.
Looking back on the project as a whole, Marlon says it was “very exciting and playful” to design. This, Marlon hopes, will therefore lend the typeface – and its “happy face” to a wide range of projects, especially those “seeking positive expression and strong typographic recognition”. Playful, dynamic and rooted in a rich design history, this multi-layered typeface has several legs to stand on. And it’s bed legs, of course.