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Nøgleord Mac PostScript (Nøgleord & Ngleo):
The initial concept for Nøgleord came from the way that governments ‘flag’ certain library books to obtain ‘intelligence’ on potential murderers, terrorists, anti-government factions, etc. in order to protect its citizens. From the way in which the information is collected, bar codes, the structure of the letterforms took their basic shape. By creating a font using a grid of blocks and then overlaying a barcode horizontally the characters developed into forms that resembled the negative spaces of cut keys. This observation lead to developing the font into an illustrative form with the emphasis placed on a stylized key structure. The idea that we place so much faith/security into a simple ‘fashioned’ piece of metal is frightening, yet all of us do it on a daily basis. We give no thought to the fact that this simple ‘device’ is the ‘thing’ that is responsible for protecting our homes and our belongings. Nøgleord is a Danish word that when directly translated into English means keyword. This felt appropriate when applied to the finished font because of the playfulness of the meaning due to the font’s structure being based on cutting elements away from another shape and then its ability to create words.
Nøgleord Poster (2 colour):
The main element of the poster is a representation of George W Bush made from the ‘tooled’ blocks that make up the cut portions of the font. His head is cut open to reveal what lies within - the outer membrane is $s, the left middle section reads GOD and USA (god and country), the right middle section reads WAR and OIL and the bottom section reads POWER. Splitting the middle section is LIES in a cross-like motif. Yellow was used as the primary colour to relay the certain amount of ‘cowardice’ the ‘Commander-in-Chief’ has in regard to his handling of ‘International Relations’ due to his limited intellect.
BIOG:
A-Bombe was born Simon Graham in Glasgow, Scotland in 1973. He studied
in Glasgow and Edinburgh focusing on type design and experimental typography.
After graduating with a degree in Visual Communication he briefly taught
font design and development at Edinburgh College of Art. Now working as
a freelancer out of Denmark his clients include Deaconn Clothing, Edinburgh
International Film Festival, Icon and Sony.