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Dial

Dial is a type made from memory—a reconstruction of the tactile, mechanical experience of using a rotary telephone. The project began in the summer of 2021, rooted in personal recollection and a fascination with the peculiar forms etched onto a coin-operated phone booth dial. The letters and numbers, both functional and strangely proportioned, carried an imperfect logic that spoke of another era.

Each curve and angle was considered, rotating between the pragmatic geometry dictated by the mechanism and the unintentional quirks introduced through wear and design constraints. The result is a typeface that feels both deliberate and incidental, bringing together the utilitarian and the sentimental.

Dial resists polish; its forms remain anchored in their origins, retaining a kind of technical awkwardness that makes them feel human. It is a typeface that invites storytelling—its shapes carry the weight of voices, coins, and conversations left unsaid.

Whether used sparingly, as a graphic gesture, or expansively across text, Dial evokes a sense of time and place. It is a study in memory, filtered through a lens of contemporary design, reminding us that even the smallest details of the everyday can hold lasting beauty.