1977–1980: Substance is not only an excellent compilation of rare Joy Divison songs, but also the most famous example of Wim Crouwel’s New Alphabet in use. With the “over-the-top and never meant to be really used” typeface, to use the words of the author, the cover quickly became a cult classic that splits opinon to this date. Yet this debate always seems to get stuck on the aesthetics of the type, and not the fact that it actually says “subst1mce”. Because of its attractive shape, I tried to recreate the typeface with a complete form.
