Like many graphic designers of the late 1980s and early 1990s, Keedy was eager to embrace the computer as a tool but was frustrated by the limited selection of digital typefaces available. Keedy Sans, created in response, was used in layouts for Emigre magazine and embraced by designers everywhere. Keedy Sans is similar in significance to another important Emigre font, P. Scott Makela's Dead History, also in the collection, designed to celebrate its experimental nature with letterforms that are intentionally unfinished and imperfect. "Most typefaces are logically systematic; if you see a few letters you can pretty much guess what the rest of the font will look like. I wanted a typeface that would willfully contradict those expectations," Keedy has said.
Gallery label from Standard Deviations, 2011.