Cutman Friseur, Berlin
Karl-Marx-Straße, Berlin-Neukölln, May 2012
Shuriken Boy is the first published typeface design by Joachim Müller-Lancé, issued as an Adobe Original in 1996, together with his Ouch!. Named after the Japanese throwing weapon sometimes also referred to as “ninja star”, Shuriken is distinguished by its triangular counters that cut into the black. It was one of 99 typefaces awarded in the international bukva:raz! competition organized by ATypI in 2001, together with heavyweights like Gotham or Minion. Despite this accolade, I haven’t seen a lot of Shuriken Boy in use. With its technoid look, it could be filed under 1990s retro-futurism. Sounds like it’s about time for a reappraisal!
One highly visible in-use example in the local cityscape is Cutman Friseur, a hairdresser’s chain with shops in Berlin and Potsdam. The logo uses Shuriken Boy in tightly spaced caps, with double outline. The complimentary slab serif is City, which is used for the superhero-themed slogan “… rettet die Welt vor schlechten Frisuren” (“saves the world from bad hairstyles”), among other things.
Berlin-Wilmersdorf, 2012.
Berlin-Neukölln, 2012.
Berlin-Spandau, 2006.
