Pizza Typefaces’ latest release is an original taste called (and all about) Pleasure

Pizza Typefaces’ latest typeface is all about pleasure, and named after it too. Started in March 2020 by Mothi Limbu of FlirtStudio and developed by Borho Studio, Pleasure was then turned over to the type foundry, who honed its character through a few tweaks and developed the glyph set for all Latin languages. Now available in 20 styles and two distinct families, Standard and Inktrap, Pizza Typefaces’ co-founder Adrien Midzic tells us all about the running grotesque font which sets out to induce pleasure.

To begin, Pleasure’s “geometric shapes do not resist the urge to be led, for certain letters, to an extrapolation of the terminals by converting them into loops.” Adrien tells us, it’s “a characteristic that gives Pleasure an original taste and a certain irony in the rolling of the eyes.” A fresh and funny addition to the Pizza family of type, Pleasure is smart in its combination of soft but well balanced letterforms.

It all started with Mothi, a designer the type foundry had collaborated with previously on some skateboard graphics. He approached Adrien and fellow co-founder Luc Borho with initial sketches. What really stood out was the typeface’s signature looped letter forms, a unique element which injects a sense of fun and playfulness into the alphabet. Adrien and Luc saw it as an opportunity to push the concept of the typeface further, crafting a typeface which is as loopy conceptually as it is technically. Adrien adds on Pleasure’s beginnings: “With his graffiti background in his early years, Mothi put in a lost feeling of playing with the letters.” This is an attitude extended throughout the entire family of fonts, from the ink trap versions to the Grotesk styles.

Adrien describes this design process as “slow and full of questions”. The curves took up a lot of time, understandably, pulling together all three designers’ heads to make crucial decisions when it came to the details, the stylistics and the letterform’s quirks. One of these decisions involved the addition of kissing glyphs in all weights and italics for the Standard family. Elsewhere, the bulk of the challenges lay in making the font variable. Luckily, the three designers worked together in a non-hierarchal setting where decisions were made through lengthy “discussions, talks and good vibes.”

The result is a versatile and wide ranging Grotesk which traverses from its Inktrap to Standard versions depending on the need. As Adrien puts it, “Pleasure Standard is a shy design partner while Pleasure Inktrap might be your most extravagant friend.” Adapting to its surroundings, the ambient typeface is equally delicious as the rest of Pizza Typefaces’ releases, something it prides itself on. After all, Pizza Typefaces is named after the globally beloved food for a reason. Fans of a basic but classic margarita as much as an exotic one, the type foundry is founded on this tasty concept. That typefaces can be simple or excessive in their toppings, but they all need a good base.

As for the future, Adrien and Luc are working on two new fonts coming out very soon. While one is very fun and inspired by the outdoors, the other is a family of three fonts and can be operated on a three-axis variable font. The founders also plan to extend Kern Typeface in weight and width and to refresh the Bota too.