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People • Faculty

Ben Kiel

Ben Kiel is a typeface designer, an educator, and a partner in XYZ Type. During his years working at House Industries, he specialized in addressing complex problems at the overlap of design and technology. He now works from the XYZ Type’s headquarters in St. Louis, Missouri. Kiel earned his MA in Typeface Design from the University of Reading. He currently teaches at Type@Cooper and Washington University.
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Ben Kiel
Senior Lecturer; Book Arts Area Coordinator
Email
bkiel@wustl.edu
Box
1031-104-001

Work by Ben Kiel

Bright orange text in a tall, narrow serif font in a folded booklet: the letter strokes are heavy and stately.

Ballast, 2020

Ballast typeface design, specimen design by Kevin McCoy or Work/Play.
"We are the Supermajority" in a bold, white serif on a purple and orange background. The font is tall, its curves juxtaposing its stately structure.

Supermajority, 2019

Supermajority wordmark with art direction by Champions Design.
Black text set in a calligraphic brush script font along a stacked grid, the bold and swift letterforms slanting to the right. "The fonts only happen with coffee" in white, to the lower right corner.

Cortado, 2014

Cortado typeface design with Jesse Ragan.
Bold, heavy text applied to a piece of fabric (left) and stenciled on a pitcher (right) — together the text reads "No. 2", the font's curves exaggerated, as if the text was written with a thick-nibbed stylus.

Worthe & Worthe, 2013

Worthe & Worthe Stencil typeface design. In use, objects designed by Bondé Angeline, House Industries.
"Iggy Char" in white on a black background. The font traces out the curves of each letter, rendering them three-dimensional. Above, "Iggy" is italicized, whereas "Char" is in a regular upright style.

Dala Prisma, 2014

Dala Prisma typeface design for Commercial Type.