Agathe Millet, a creative genius in graphic design, has birthed a unique vintage-style 8-bit font named Hardanger. Inspired by intricate Norwegian embroidery crafts, Hardanger delicately blends traditional artistry with contemporary digital design.
Millet invested many hours observing the fine details of this ornamental craft. The end-product is more than a typeface; it’s a beautiful representation of her creative flair, coupled with cultural tradition. Making Hardanger available to designers globally provides them an exciting journey into vintage graphics seen through a modern lens.
Currently based in Montpellier, Millet’s life-long interest in type design and her unique blend of historical and contemporary influences have earned her global recognition. Her journey in typeface design emphasizes her relentless passion and dedication to the craft.
During her exchange year in Norway, Millet was inspired by Hardanger embroidery style. She dove deeper into the roots of Norwegian culture, expressing her fascination visually through her unique font.
Agathe Millet’s vintage-inspired 8-bit font
Her immersion in Norwegian tradition considerably shaped her font-crafting skills.
Over two years, Millet developed a design system based on a 7-pixel grid, mirroring Hardanger’s characteristic patterns. This intricate process required countless hours of research into the signature style of Hardanger and detailed analysis of its subtle elements. The result was a font that reveals Hardanger’s distinct beauty in every tiny pixel on the grid.
Millet’s work reflects the potency of perseverance and proves the value of using heritage as a basis for modern design. It communicates how traditional patterns can be innovatively woven into contemporary design systems.
Envisioned to be deployed as a display font in headings, text, and overlays, and also as a large-scale embroidery design, Hardanger is versatile. Millet designed three variants of the typeface, each one reinventing pixels as patterns adopted from intricate embroidery.
With the completion of the Hardanger project, Millet now focuses her talent on a new monospace typeface, inspired by the First Industrial Revolution. Demonstrating her adaptability and ceaseless quest for unique design exploration, Millet proves her expertise is both distinctive and relevant.
Other designers and artists are starting to incorporate Hardanger into their work, underscoring the critical importance of Millet’s contributions. Millet’s Hardanger has radiated a unique appeal, prompting a new generation of creative minds to redefine boundaries and reinvigorate traditions.
