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“Kuchen” is a digitized (still WIP) font that I made using photos from the model “einfamilienhaus” at the Bauhaus. In these images, there were kitchen ceramics with lettering that I was drawn to. I wanted to do a straight digitization of the font, but because some of the letters were not rendered as nicely, I needed to think about the letterforms from an intent perspective instead.

As I was drawing the letters, Tobias Frere-Jones came through Denver to give a talk, and I asked him what I could do to make the “S” work, and he told me to turn the letter upside down clockwise or counter-clockwise, and shape the letter from there to get the shape right.

Another inspiration was a family dish that I grew up making with my grandparents. It’s a dessert that is served during important holidays. Though it is called “kuchen” (which I think is german for cake), it is a light custard dish that usually includes different fruits, and sometimes surprising ingredients like cottage cheese. The custard and fruit is supported by a bread-like “sweet roll” dough.