Publifluor

research group

Publifluor research group formed
around the unusual adhesive characters
that Crystel Crickx cut out of vinyl and
sold in her shop, Publifluor, located in
Schaerbeek, Brussels until the late 1990s.

In the period between the introduction of
self-adhesive vinyl and the availability of
inexpensive digital signage, Crickx made
a living using a process she invented
herself, in which she stockpiled hand-cut
characters in various sizes and colors. Her
customers could buy these letters by the
piece and then place them on their shop
windows. The characters were adopted by
a group of Brussels-based designers who
digitized and published them as a typeface.
Released under an Open Font License,
the typeface has been put to use in many
contexts for over 20 years. Publifluor is a
collaboration between bookseller, editor,
and teacher David Le Simple; researcher
Femke Snelting; typographer, designer,
and teacher Ludivine Loiseau; artist and
photographer Nathan Izbick; publisher,
designer, and teacher Olivier Bertrand;
designer, typographer, cartographer,
teacher, and Crickx archive custodian
Pierre Huyghebaert; and typographer,
graphic designer, cartographer and Crickx
archive custodian Sophie Boiron.