Familial Gesture is a series of expressive reinterpretations of Neue Haas Grotesk. The lettering was created in January 2025 as a collaborative effort between three generations of designers: Michael Sieren (79), David Sieren (44), and Ava Gray Sieren (9).
Throughout my dad’s life, drawing has been an essential method of communication. Early on in my design education, I was taught to appreciate the nuances of typographic form by drafting characters and typesetting by hand. At this point in her journey, my daughter prefers analog methods of making to digital tools.
Neue Hass Grotesk is a typeface central to dad’s Swiss-informed design practice; a formal framework to unite each participant; and a neutral scaffold for experimentation and gesture.
A collective love of drawing. A mutual passion for typography and letterforms. The craft and process of mark-making. These are the ties that bind.
Familial Gesture is a formal exploration and a series of expressive artifacts marking the experience—a celebration of not only each participant’s visual interpretation of the source material, but of the relationships between each individual and an intergenerational bond that was deepened through the communal act of making.
Michael Sieren
Industrial and graphic designer
Throughout his career, my father designed identities, products, campaigns, buildings, and more. It’s within the walls of his interdisciplinary design studio that I learned about the craft of design, the historical importance of Helvetica, the Mac, and much, much more.
I vividly recall his ability to render an exquisite product design in marker and gouache. His ability to articulate a sophisticated design solution to a client with quick gestures of pen on napkin. His ability to sketch a doodle that would instantly make mom laugh out loud.
Diagnosed with MS in his ’40s, my father has slowly lost the ability to draw with the same level of detail, precision, and elegance of his youth. However what remains is a passion for detail, an incredibly strong point of view on the function of typography, and a unique and beautiful expressive gesture from his non-dominant left hand.
Ava Gray Sieren
Emerging artist and designer
My daughter is growing her ability to express herself through drawing, communicate through storytelling, and solve problems through the design process. She dreams of growing up to be work in a creative field. An artist. A photographer. An author.
Her ability to sketch, compose, and experiment grows more robust every day. She’s surrounded by designers and artists in her family, encouraging her to see, explore, and shape the world with a curious and discerning eye.
- Michael Sieren
- David Sieren
- Ava Gray Sieren
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