Trine Rask on observing letters and humans

We met Trine for a digital interview on a Friday, just after her lecture at DMJX where she teaches type design for three weeks every year. We get to talking about who she is and almost immediately take a deep dive into what Trine finds interesting about typography.

“I’m very interested in communication, to remember to actually listen to one another when we speak to each other, instead of just making assumptions. I think this is very important in relation to design, that we try to communicate as clearly as possible to avoid misunderstanding and miscommunication. It is in my personality to listen carefully, observe my surroundings and try to grasp what it is people try to say to each other. Type design and typography might be kind of an unseen part of design, but it intrigues me to illuminate the fundamental message in human interactions with other people.”

Trine tells us about being inspired by the illogical. She finds it interesting how something that is considered "wrong" or outside the consensus can work as a source of inspiration for designing type. She describes her process as quite mechanical, but that she can gather inspiration from the most non-mechanical, unsystematic and typographically wrong. This could be hand lettering or sign painting, where it just works visually without necessarily following the “rules” of type design.

Trine elaborates on this: “I try to find what’s illogical, because it would be so easy for me to make the obvious or logical. I investigate how I can create something exciting from the unexpected.”

She continues by comparing type to nature, where the most beautiful things cannot be described when drawing them mechanically. Let’s say a tree has seven branches, but all the branches are the same length and thickness. The tree appears unnatural. What if we give the branches more dynamic and varied shapes? That’s how it is to work with type. By changing small details, and daring to step out of the system, you can get rid of the stiffness and staticity and create something that looks effortless.

We wanted to learn about Trine’s relationship to type and her thoughts and reflections on typography as a nomadic and ever-changing field. She talked about her journey from pursuing type design as both a hobby and a personal interest, to eventually building a career combining teaching and type design. Her works are not created in a vacuum, but she has encountered different obstacles in her professional life that she has sought to solve through type. North is tailored to our consonant-filled Scandinavian languages and Matita is designed to give children confidence and education in handwriting. We clearly see her wish to empower people and change how typography exists not only in design, but also in society and in relation to our personal identities.

How did you start your journey in type design? “During my education I found a deep interest in typography. In retrospect I wonder why and how, since it wasn’t a topic we really touched on. I think my teachers found it slightly irritating that I found interest in something that was outside the syllabus. But I would like to think that my fascination for typography and type design is connected with my interest for people to express themself in a clear way. I consider myself a person merged together with her work. I often notice things in other people around me, and try to simplify what I see.”

Trine has witnessed the journey of typography as a field in change. During her studies, typography didn't play a big role in design, and type design was secondary. As a mother, she talks about Danish schools not prioritizing time for children to learn how to write by hand. Writing is something you’re just supposed to know instinctively, without really having the tools to fully understand it. About her time in the Haag, she talked about how different typefaces work better for different languages. North was designed as a wish to optimize a typeface to Scandinavian languages. Regarding North, Trine writes: “Languages do not only sound different, they look different when they use the same alphabet. Scandinavian languages have a higher frequency of the letters f and g.”