KLF Haven collection of eight typefaces are based on lettering found on ships in and around the harbours of Amsterdam. All the typefaces share the same basic structure, weight and widths the difference being in their individual outer forms. Some are square with rounded insides or visa versa, others have diagonal corners while retaining square on rounded insides. All are different and yet can be interchangeable.

Notes

As the idea for these typeface came from ships lettering I though it only appropriate to call them after the names old Dutch boats types, in this case the ‘platbodum’ flat bottom boats that sailed the shallow coastal waters and inland waterways carrying various types of cargo around the end of the nineteenth century. Many of the ships at that time where now being built with iron hulls with the name of the ship the often being cut out of individual letters and welded on.

The Dutch language has some very individual letter combinations: a double AA, IJ, TJ, making for difficult spacing problems. I tried to accommodate this with wide tops to the A’s and the IJ taking up the same space as a capital U. The town of IJmuiden for instance has two capitals at the beginning of its name and is seen as one letter, it is pronounced as the English ‘aye’. I have tried to reflect these language nuances in the typeface.