Due to the generally mechanical aesthetics of Dysto’s cinematic inspirations, Joseph began by basing the typeface’s design on strict repeating modules, sat upon a rigid 90-degree grid, and, in doing so, constructed a creative foundation that – albeit restrictive – led to acts of expressive problem-solving. “As I ran into each new problem, I would solve it by adding a new module to solve my problems,” he says. He then slowly began to build each letterform piece by piece. “One of my main aims for the typeface was to design it to type both horizontally and vertically,” he continues, subsequently opting for a monospaced design to achieve as much. “I had a shot from Blade Runner in my head where a collection of tall neon signs flash in the dark with vertical text on them,” Joseph says, “this was the world I was designing Dysto for.”
Taking the narrative nature of Dysto …