The founders of Underware—Akiem Helmling, Bas Jacobs, and Sami Kortemäki—aren’t your typical group of type designers. During a night of too much Jägermeister while still in art school, they decided to create a business even though they’d be based out of different countries. According to Jacobs, “We were just three friends, spending time on the beach and working together on type projects while studying. Nothing official, just fun.”

In addition to their type and graphic design work, the group finds time to teach and publish a variety of typographic projects. They teach at the Koninklijke Academie van Beeldende Kunsten (where they first met and formed Underware), as well as Leiden University in the master of photography program and the Willem de Kooning Academie in Rotterdam. Underware has also held over a dozen type workshops around the world for aspiring type designers. They post the content of these workshops online for others who want to know more about typography and typeface design. And as if that isn’t enough, the group also publishes Pts., a “semi-infrequent” magazine. All of these projects are created in a free-spirited way that has become the personality of the group. It only makes sense then that Typeradio be the next step.

Typeradio is for anyone who wants to learn more about type and typographic design, and the people in the type community. As Underware sees it, “Type is speech on paper, Typeradio is speech on type.” It can be found on the web at www.typeradio.org, and if you happen to live in Berlin, on the dial at 95.3 FM. Typeradio might be dedicated to type, but the discussions have ranged from graphic design to poetry and music.

So far, Typeradio has only gone on-air during some of the recent typographic conferences, but with more participation and interest it could become an alternate way to hear more about typography and graphic design. While it’s an initiative started by Underware, Typeradio wouldn’t exist without generous help from fellow graphic designers Donald Beekman, a type and graphic designer living in Amsterdam, and Liza Enebeis, a graphic designer living in Den Haag.

I caught up with Jacobs to find out more about Typeradio. When asked why Underware started the project, he explains, “Typeradio is an example of our attempts to approach type design from a different angle. When designing type, I normally go from A [idea] straight to B [visual form]. Typeradio forces me to go from A [idea] via F [oral description] to B [imaginary visual form]. The end point might be the same, but the path is totally different. This might lead to new ideas and other results. I hope, in some way, this will be visible in our work. Typeradio is the catapult for the ideas. Who knows where they may land.”

The response to Typeradio has been extremely positive: A few of the people who have been interviewed on the program share what they think of it.

Erik Spiekermann, information architect, type designer: “I had fun; but with very general questions, you get general answers. Anything, however, that will bring out the person behind a typeface is good on radio.”

Matthew Carter, type designer, partner of Carter & Cone Type Inc: “When I dropped by Typeradio in San Francisco, they told me an anecdote about the first Typeradio at Typo Berlin, where I did an interview: The only place to hear the broadcasts without renting a special gadget was in the loo. A young typographer attending the conference asked Typeradio when my interview would be broadcast and timed his daily visit to the men’s room to listen to it. This may be the highest compliment I’ve ever received.”

Bruno Steinert, managing director for Linotype Library GmbH: “It was fun and entertaining. Who knows, it may produce some interest in type among listeners. The only downside is that type and typography are visual arts—and you can’t see them on the radio.”