Contrary to Anamorphe’s extraordinariness, Manoeuvre references a more quotidian occurrence of anamorphosis employed in asphalt road markings.

Whereas the reverse contrast typefaces of the Victorian era sought primarily to attract attention, the horizontal weight distribution of traffic lettering arises from functional necessity. These equally “perverted” letterforms compensate for the perspective distortion arising when encountered at an acute angle.

Two main approaches are used in the application of asphalt lettering. The first one is a freehand, stroke-based method using a road marking die shoe, with the occasional double or triple stroke for horizontal emphasis.

The other — using prefab stencils often digitally distorted — is akin to the ruthless stretching of type often practiced by design amateurs. This non-proportional “abuse” of lettershapes was long considered an absolute no-go in typography, provoking an outcry of professional snobbery. In recent years though, this “wrongness” got a bottom-up redefinition, becoming a cultural marker rather than a demarkation separating experts from “ignorants”. Today, stretched type both of its horizontal and vertical variety has been elevated to a style, if not even a genre. In its raw urgency, this graphic nihilism shows an aloof awareness, an unfiltered cultural je-ne-sais-quoi desired by many.

In the case of asphalt lettering, the deliberate distortion of letterforms exposes a curious contradiction. The initial intent of an official, authoritative voice is counteracted by the resulting comically alienated shapes; a letter style baring its own authority.

This genre has been prominently translated into digital type in recent years: Lineto’s Pirelli, Dinamo's Asfalt, Production Type's Signal Compressed, Plaak by 205tf and the recently released Cockpit by Mario Feliciano; just to mention a few.

The translation of a technical or optical necessity from one medium into the formal domain of type is an ongoing fascination in the field. In this parasitical move from functional fundamentals to stylistic device, typography might be at its most honest; aesthetic appropriation being at its core from the very inception.

Without any specific letter model in mind, Manoeuvre’s six static weights aim to amplify the weirdness springing from a quintessentially utilitarian area of use. Gradually exaggerating the contrast between horizontals and verticals leads to the eventual collapse in the absurdly abstracted Black style.

Not yet.