Based in Chicago and formerly known as “Lamesville,” Central Type Company is an independent type foundry and studio that was established by Mark Butchko in 2016 as an official home for all of his type designs and the place through which he conducts the business of crafting bespoke type designs for individual clients. A graphic designer, illustrator, animator, and typographer, Mark is an incredibly talented artist and type designer whose client list includes Animal Planet, CDW, and Dove Chocolate – to name just a few.
Evident through much of his work, Mark has a particular affinity for graphic design styles rooted in the 1960s and 70s, and even earlier eras. Those classic fonts most often seen on album covers, book jackets, posters, and flyers have left a lasting impact on his own typography. They’re actually what inspired him to get into type design in the first place. “Type designers such as Ed Benguiat, Tom Carnase, Herb Lubalin, Ronne Bonder, and Colin Brignall created fonts that had such distinct personalities and an overall sense of fun that had a huge impact on how pop culture of that era looked,” Mark explained. “Inspired by those type design giants, I started to get a few ideas of my own that I wanted to explore.”
That exploration eventually led to not only a love for typography, but an extensive portfolio of brilliant type designs with a vintage spin. One of his more recent releases through YouWorkForThem is Dirk, a super-heavy slab serif that gets noticed wherever it goes. Reminiscent of classic Clarendon wood type, Dirk also carries with it the features of a contemporary geometric slab serif. The blend of these two influences has resulted in a type design that is charming and completely fresh – a brand new take on a beloved classic style.
Dirk is available in two distinct variations. Dirk Black features solid and strong lettering, while Dirk Stencil features the same base architecture with a stenciled effect. Both are well suited to a variety of project types, including displays, signage, posters, titling, advertisements, headlines, logos, product packaging, merchandise, apparel, website designs, and any project that needs a bold statement font at the forefront.
Dirk extends multilingual support to Basic Latin, Western European, Euro, Baltic, Turkish, Central European, Romanian, and Pan African Latin for accessibility in international design projects.
Central Type Company currently offers five products through YouWorkForThem and we’re looking forward to seeing more of their work in the future. Especially if you love vintage-inspired type, visit their portfolio to view the rest of their work and check back often for new releases!
