Gibbs
Category: Typefaces
Client: SS United States Conservancy
Recognition: TDC Certificate of Excellence 2015
The Gibbs typeface was developed for the non-profit SS United States Conservancy, currently developing a museum about the SS United States, a former transatlantic ocean liner that is being deployed as the world’s largest artificial reef off the coast of Okaloosa County, Florida.
The distinctive caps of Gibbs (named for the ship’s designer, William Francis Gibbs) were based on the mid-century cast aluminum signs found on board the ship in its heyday. The result is a tough, sophisticated, and transatlantic sans with a little bit of quirk, in between industrial American vernacular lettering and the English humanist styles of Gill or Johnston.
The typeface was intended for the Conservancy to use in marketing materials and other branded collateral. Gibbs was awarded the Type Directors Club Certificate for Typographic Excellence in 2015.