In the late 90s, the online design community was small—just a loose network of people connected through websites, email and eventually forums. Search engines weren’t great at surfacing designers' websites, so I helped run a designer index to connect people. Through our mutual friend Jay David, I met Harsh Patel. He wanted to help with the index, and that’s how we connected. From the start, he had a sharp eye for design and on the quest for knowledge. Over the years, we collaborated, exhibited in galleries together, and always stayed in touch.
Watching Harsh’s career grow while staying true to his vision has been incredible. He’s avoided corporate work and the stylistic traps many designers fall into. Over the past decade, his approach to design changed the vernacular of contemporary design. Many have built careers inspired by his aesthetics, but Harsh never sought recognition—he just kept moving forward on his own terms in his own lane.
Last year, he came to me with an idea for a typeface. Months passed before we finally got to work, but when we did, it was an effortless collaboration. Harsh initially drew a–z 0-9 along with a few alternates. The design was influenced by wartime Italy design but was really rooted in the broader idea of a universal alphabet—something early designers like Max Bill explored deeply. Instead of focusing on a single typographic tradition, we considered how letterforms connect across different writing systems.
Our goal was to create new abstract forms that transcend linguistic and cultural boundaries but also keeping a playful, yet, utilitarian focus. We didn’t want to over-refine it, leaving room for designers to bring their own ideas into it. To me, this typeface is as much a tool as it is a window for creating new work and form.
I can’t wait to see how others use Contro. It invites users to explore its alternate glyph set with curiosity and purpose, to play, and hopefully to push typography forward in new ways.
Explore at publictype.us and thanks.
Harsh Patel
1 https://www.harshpatel.com 2 https://blackandwhite.co
I also wanted to put a call out for a younger designer looking for an internship. Ideally, I would like a person who is social, somewhat business minded and in the field of design and typography. Remote. Contact via cinaassociates.com
Harsh Patel, that’s a name I haven’t heard in a while. Love the typeface!
masterpiece!