Bands tend to see merch as a capsule of their ethos. Some are cool with the trademarked garb approach but others take the representation of band as product a little further like Grimes‘ pussy rings, Drake’s OVO lint roller or Rammstein’s dildo box set. San Francisco band Deafheaven have taken a lateral approach to this with the Sunbather typeface; their acclaimed Sunbather album’s font which they’re selling to fans for personal use.

Available here for $30 their label describes it as:

“…a stenciled flare-serif display face inspired by bright light and dissipating legibility. Referencing similar historical type experiments by Jan Tschicold, it questions the mind to connect what the eyes cannot see when the thinnest strokes of a didone font evaporate. The results were then finely tapered and sharpened to create a stern and angular mood when set in text or large words.”

It’s a strain enough to piece together that it would make Ulysses a nightmare to read but in less verbose contexts it’s striking enough to engage the reader. It’s already been jacked a couple of times so it’s clearly in demand, but now Deafheaven have made it easier to write artisanal fan fiction than ever before.

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