a LITTLEBIT type
Littlebit is type face designed by Rudy VanderLans and Zuzana Licko from Emigre. It is based on a grid 5x7 and has four styles – square, griddy, dotty, loopy. As the name implies, Littlebit Squareis composed from square pixels, justlike the original bitmap design. But pixels need not be square anymore, so they had
a bit of fun trying outdifferent shapes. First they settled on avariant that switches out the squarebit with
a loop, named Littlebit Loopy. Then they also generated a series ofvariants composed from dot-shaped pixels, named Littlebit Dotty, and two versions that emphasized the underlying bitmap grid of the original design named Littlebit Griddy. By the way, they don’t suggest you use this font to set lengthy text, or any text for that matter. It worksbest in short headlines, word logos, drop caps and the like. Remember, sometimes a little bit goes a long way.
it‘s a (LITTLEBIT) variable
you can add a LITTLEBIT more than just one layer
just have a LITTLEBIT of fun
a littlebit of a LITTLEBIT history
Sometimes we come across work that we created way in the past and it brings a smile to our faces. Littlebit is a typeface that was originally created by Rudy VanderLans in 1985, although it wasn’t called Littlebit back then. Actually it didn’t have a name, because it didn’t exist as an actual font. It was created as a series of letters using MacPaint, one of the first drawing programs that came standard with the Apple Mac 128K. To set words, VanderLans would simply “cut and paste” the letters together in MacPaint.
Those letters were first used in Emigre magazine #3 (1985) to create a headline that read “Boundaries Ignored.” It was used again in the same headline configuration in Emigre #4 (1986). It was also used on
a postcard. Then they never used it again. We’re not sure why. Probably it was pushed aside or forgotten by an onslaught of new type designs we were working on in those days.
So after 37 years Emigre removed the cobwebs, blew off the dust, took a close look at it, and realized it would be worthwhile to complete the character set and turn it into a usable typeface. VanderLans particularly liked the idea that each character was unique. Of course all letters are unique, but with
a reductionist font like Littlebit, it is tempting to turn an “m” into a “w,” a “p” into a “b,” a “u” into an “n,” etc., by simply rotating or flipping the characters. When redrawing some of the characters, they tried to resist the urge for repetition and instead emphasized distinctiveness.
square
griddy
dotty
loopy
