An apt title for a bold egyptian style typeface that effectively captures all the power and strength of a steam locomotive whilst portraying overtones of Cyrillic influence within certain individual letterforms.

Locomotiv is one of a number of typefaces designed by Phill Grimshaw which, because of ill health, he was unable to complete before his untimely death in 1998. Now, with the blessing of Penny Grimshaw, Letraset are delighted to have the opportunity to remind people of Phill’s incredible talent by launching this design.

In truth, most of the design, except for some accents and other minor incidental characters, was actually completed by Phill, so it was a relatively simple task to make the design decisions that would enable the completion of the font as Phill would probably have liked.

There has always been an insatiable demand for bold display typefaces that will ‘grab’ attention. It is especially true when those faces parade features within the letterforms that are that little bit different to the norm and in step with the very latest trends, for it is those which will stand out in the crowd. Locomotiv does just this. Unusual angled centre bars on the capital ‘E’, ‘F’, and ‘G’ fit comfortably among the rest of the capitals whilst the lowercase ‘d’ and ‘f’ have a distinctive Cyrillic flavour. This is no accident for Phill was also highly sensitive to prevailing trends and perceived that Russian influenced graphics were beginning to be seen in advertising that specifically targeted the fashion conscious youth, perhaps fuelled by the widespread growth in sales of Vodka based mixer drinks. The numerals too have some unique characteristics but, as you would expect given the designer, everything harmonises perfectly.