Piston | Desktop

This package includes Piston in OpenType format for Desktop (1 font file).

Victorian revivals and inspirations often seize on the peri­od’s tendency toward florid decoration. However, the times were also the final surge of the industrial revolution, a time that witnessed the ultimate development in steam, die­sel and oil: engines of all kinds. Piston cap­tures the nitty-gritty of a hard-boned indomitable age, bound­less in its faith in the technologies of iron and steel, tempered by half-remembered neo-classical details such as the verticality of neo-gothic windows, and finely detailed fin­ials. It’s all here in the brute strength of the verticals, the blackness of the tight setting, the contrasting delicacy of the terminal serifs.

Steven Skaggs designed Piston as a typeface to be tinkered with. Convert it to outlines, pull the verticals and horizontals, pack it tight, and a headline becomes a logo­type. Piston can pump like a line of pistons, turn like a turbine, or use it with discretion as a drop cap with a contrasting neoclassical like Century and you get an im­medi­ate boost of horsepower. Anyway you drive it, Piston produces a riveting experience for the viewer.

Use Piston big. Convert it to outlines and custom­ize it to your liking by pulling out horizontal or vertical strokes. Pack in some horizontal bars where it makes sense. This typeface is great for logos, movie posters, DVDs, magazine headlines, book covers, and packag­ing for toys, cars, tools, cookware, and much more.