The Typeface Design Revolution

Typeface is another term for font. The font is one of the greatest inventions ever conceived by man as it revolutionized communication in forms other than speech. This led to many advances and most importantly—advanced cooperation. Why cooperation? With this modular system of letters, numerals and punctuation; we have increased the speed of sending mass messages to a faraway land by printing on paper (referencing movable type) and sending it simultaneously across regions. This enabled kingdoms and governments to not only rely on calligraphic scribes but also relied on scholars/writers. The focus was diverted from art to content—function. People will not have to wait outside the assembly area to hear decrees verbally. They were sent as prints.

Although this revolution was great and the system didn't really change from the time it was invented (I am talking about the modular design of the alphabet) printing methods have been improving exponentially and with the rise of the digital age, people started making other use of type.

Typeface design now has gone from pure function to psychological aesthetic. People are so attuned to the forms that they now give extra meaning to the forms. Foundries were established and type was developed for marketing the printer company or highlight the quality of the printing. Typeface design has been evolving—significantly. It has become personal. It is the age were printing is so excellent and the digital screens so high resolution that any sort of typeface will be displayed exactly how it was designed to look like. Some took advantage of this.

Digital type foundries have been rising these past years and are revolutionizing type design by creating solutions based on human psychology. Things like typefaces that make you feel good, that looks quirky and fun, that is warm and friendly, that is business-like and corporate—it is now an age where anybody is able to create their own typeface and not worry about how it will cater other users as it will only be created for a specific function.

This blog is all about that. About designing and making typefaces. I hope you will enjoy how I deconstruct the tutorials you may see online and break it down into easier-to-understand chunks.

I will be updating this blog weekly with the exception of the first blog that will be released tomorrow.

Happy typography!