HEX Projects

HEX Projects is a typographic company founded by @nicksherman that makes fonts and websites.
📍 Brooklyn, NYC

Last Notes

2026-05-11 17:13:47 GMT

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@nprofile…yeqj This is so cool. Thanks for making fun stuff with my fonts!

2026-02-04 10:43:16 GMT

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@nprofile…965h @nprofile…dd9w @nprofile…tm79 I kept thinking how fun it would be if each line had its own tone when plucked, like a guitar, so you could play songs with the type. Maybe that will be the next step.

2026-02-04 10:39:41 GMT

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As noted in the disclaimers on that demo page, the curved baseline effect relies on some CSS functions that some browsers don’t support yet. In those browsers you will see the glyphs flex and wiggle when hovering, but without the baseline curving. It’s not the intended effect but it does help to understand how the variable font’s glyphs flex to match what the curvature of the baseline *would* be.
https://typo.social/system/media_attachments/files/116/011/900/112/375/327/original/8e98a037cc48ec4e.mp4

2026-02-04 10:22:43 GMT

An interactive web experiment combining a springy-baseline hover effect with a variable font whose glyphs can flex to match the baseline’s curvature:
https://hex.xyz/Shop_Sans/boing/
The CSS code is based on demos from @nprofile…dd9w with tips from @nprofile…tm79 yesterday:
https://front-end.social/@css/116006138838064149
The variable font is Shop Sans, which I made for exactly these kinds of curved-baseline situations:
https://www.futurefonts.com/hex/shop-sans
It’s just CSS with a variable web font (no JavaScript involved) and would have been impossible until fairly recently.
https://typo.social/system/media_attachments/files/116/011/626/236/207/639/original/0829b40a0017eacb.mp4

2025-11-12 15:28:07 GMT

Issue #2 of HEX News just went out, featuring the new Shop Sans typeface for setting text on curves, previews of other fonts in progress, font uses, miscellaneous personal recommendations, and more.
You can read the web version here:
https://hex.xyz/news/2/
Subscribe to get infrequent new issues in your email inbox or RSS reader:
https://hex.xyz/news/
https://typo.social/system/media_attachments/files/115/537/410/825/380/945/original/9d48d732c3d31238.png

2025-11-01 16:33:00 GMT

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@nprofile…mk0g Thanks! I was doing early tests for this idea at least as early as January 2015:
https://www.flickr.com/photos/nicksherman/16366442601/
The sans-serif design I just released now started some time between then and July 2016, when I made the first commits in the git repository for the project.

2025-11-01 00:35:22 GMT

HEX launched 7 years ago tonight, on Halloween 2018.
To celebrate, I’m releasing a preliminary version of an experimental typeface I started even before that …
Shop Sans is a typeface for setting text on circles and curved baselines. Its ‘Curve’ variable font allows for bending type smoothly along arched paths, with adjustable curvature.
The initial version 0.1 is now available from @nprofile…9yhh, with more updates and improvements coming soon:
https://www.futurefonts.com/hex/shop-sans
https://typo.social/system/media_attachments/files/115/471/563/097/840/241/original/b5efeeab93e00698.png
https://typo.social/system/media_attachments/files/115/471/570/697/701/231/original/a5e5b79156e2e5c3.mp4
https://typo.social/system/media_attachments/files/115/471/600/638/902/272/original/8a38f1f38a735132.png
https://typo.social/system/media_attachments/files/115/471/572/285/326/651/original/7e213669823173ad.mp4

2025-08-16 08:19:28 GMT

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@nprofile…5x7y I have considered it, and the design did start as single-line vectors, but I haven’t yet jumped down the rabbit hole of learning the ins and outs of that font format.
Let me know if you have some particular use in mind!

2025-08-16 00:25:31 GMT

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@nprofile…53qe That Dymo script font wheel was what inspired my Plastic Script typeface!
https://hex.xyz/Plastic_Script/
It was a fun challenge to make a connecting script typeface where every glyph occupies the same monospaced width.
https://typo.social/system/media_attachments/files/115/035/582/692/838/542/original/e8f5d9fe01fd6f14.png

2025-08-07 14:17:41 GMT

If you’re in Portland, Oregon, tonight @nprofile…g5gz and friends are hosting a @nprofile…dr8l party at the Outlet studio. It’s free and open to the public.
https://www.futurefonts.com/blog/582-future-fonts-friends-typecon-party
Unfortunately I won’t be there, but I’m happy to see Diego Garibay’s design for the flyer uses my HEX Franklin fonts (https://www.futurefonts.com/hex/hex-franklin), including some funky manual adaptations.
https://typo.social/system/media_attachments/files/114/987/862/010/239/636/original/c352bf7a870ac2f7.webp

2025-07-11 19:26:30 GMT

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@nprofile…6d43 I’ve had Lauweriks up on the site for years, but I’m glad you found it and like it – thank you!
The wild 6 and 9 came straight from the source material, which is still hard to believe is from the early 1900s. @nprofile…pqf8 recently published a related article:
https://typo.social/@MathieuLommen/114760068190950701
At some point I also added more tame stylistic alternates for a client who wanted the option to not always be so zany.🤪 I’ll have to add those to the samples on the HEX site soon.
https://typo.social/system/media_attachments/files/114/836/241/706/293/445/original/da44b0dde38b52cd.png
https://typo.social/system/media_attachments/files/114/836/241/785/320/480/original/43432251f7b85733.jpeg

2025-05-19 17:03:52 GMT

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Designer: Spends $60 to use my fonts in a publication they’re making.
Me: Spends $80 to buy a copy of that publication.

2025-05-18 19:58:31 GMT

Designer: Writes a nice 3-sentence email asking about using some of my fonts.
Me: Replies with a 600-word essay explaining every possible thing there is to know about those fonts.

2025-04-22 17:14:44 GMT

On May 2 @nprofile…yakj will be hosting @nprofile…mpql for a lecture about the stencil work of W. A. Dwiggins:
https://ksmallgallery.com/blogs/events/of-hacksaws-and-celluloid-the-beguiling-stencil-work-of-w-a-dwiggins
My Dwiggins-inspired Marionette typeface (https://www.future-fonts.com/hex/marionette) was used for this little promo graphic.
Cheap thrills!
https://typo.social/system/media_attachments/files/114/382/700/577/340/412/original/4c2a99809d9e0a29.jpg

2025-03-14 23:52:31 GMT

That feeling when a student you sent fonts to a long time ago for use in their school projects writes you back much later to show you what they made and also say they just paid for a full license to use the fonts outside of school.
🥹🥹🥹

2024-12-16 20:18:57 GMT

Chantal Jahchan (https://chantaljahchan.work) is a power user of my HEX Franklin font family, and especially the “Tyght” variable font (https://hex.xyz/HEX_Franklin/Tyght/). She has used it prominently for several book covers, including her purely typographic design for ‘Defectors’ by Paola Ramos, which was just selected by @nprofile…8sv6 as one of the 12 best book covers of 2024:
https://www.nytimes.com/2024/12/13/books/review/the-best-book-covers-of-2024.html
It’d be hard to overstate how much of an honor it is to have a smart designer like Chantal using my fonts. 🙇
https://typo.social/system/media_attachments/files/113/664/308/502/012/352/original/52508435d57bf3da.jpg

2024-12-06 12:47:41 GMT

For anyone using variable fonts in Affinity design apps:
⚠️ BEWARE ⚠️
Affinity applies kerning values from a variable font’s default instance (usually a moderate “Regular” style) to *all* variants of that font, even if it includes design variants with drastically different kerning.
It’s easy to miss in variable fonts with relatively limited stylistic ranges (where kerning doesn’t change much throughout), but it’s quite problematic for variable fonts that cover more expansive ranges of variation.
https://typo.social/system/media_attachments/files/113/605/874/105/661/561/original/912b40fc7c591e5c.png

2024-04-30 13:23:53 GMT

The first issue of HEX News just went out, featuring some big type, previews of new fonts in progress, info on upcoming events, font uses, a section of miscellaneous personal recommendations, and more.
You can read the web version here:
https://hex.xyz/news/1/
Subscribe to get infrequent new issues in your email inbox or RSS reader:
https://hex.xyz/news/
https://typo.social/system/media_attachments/files/112/360/392/968/012/758/original/d25ca1bf0112af42.png