What resonated in the minds of typophiles this year? For one thing, we love a good report. We have logo controversies, type as public art and luxury goods, a psychedelic, puts-a-smile-on-your-face new release, and Monotype, Monotype, and more Monotype.
Check out our top ten typography features for 2023.
1. Why Are People Mad About the New Nokia Logo— and Is It Warranted?
Despite now being a predominantly B2B brand, Nokia clearly wanted to signal to the world that Nokia is changing— strategically and as a business— and they wanted to do it in a bold manner. They wanted a javelin thrown into the future. This logo is the sharp end.
2. The 2023 PRINT Typography Report: Why Type Empathy Matters
2023 has barely come into vision, but a new objective in typography is clear—type empathy.
That is, the ability to widen the lens—historically, culturally, orientationally—on how we teach typography and create it. Can we further our awareness and create more meaningful dialogue with one another through more diverse typography choices?
3. Clear Your Schedules: The Monotype 2023 Type Trends Report Has Just Landed
What’s better than a typography trend report? How about a typography trend report assembled by some of the most trusted experts in the field?
4. For Paula Scher, Type is Image
For those who seek to be entranced by the full body of Paula Scher’s work, we’re lucky: she was commissioned to create Type Is Image, a major solo installation inspired by five decades of her work at Die Neue Sammlung— The Design Museum in Munich.
5. There’s Nothing ‘Arrogant’ About This Sunny, Psychedelic Typeface
Graphic designer Carmen Nácher‘s typeface Arrogant embraces the psychedelic, organic, swirling nature that recent design has gravitated toward. The font is bold and effervescent, distorting letters to create curly forms that feel intrinsically human and unprocessed.
6. Pentagram Plays with Letters for Liberty’s New Capsule Collection
You don’t often get a creative brief containing a simple directive to play and experiment, especially when the appeal comes from a 148-year-old brand at the forefront of design. Yet that’s precisely the request Pentagram’s Harry Pearce received from Liberty Fabrics Design Director Mary-Ann Dunkley.
7. Typotheque’s Peter Bil’ak on How Font Foundries Can Keep Centuries-Old Languages Alive
As globalization makes the world feel ever more homogenized, it’s vital to preserve authentic scripts and languages that carry details and nuances of centuries-old cultures. This past spring, the Dutch Foundry Typotheque ceremoniously launched 30 new Georgian typefaces with a book, symposium, ten-minute documentary, and exhibition in Tbilisi.
8. Monotype and Canva Launch a Five-Part Type Curriculum for Classrooms
Co-authored by Monotype and Canva, The Foundation of Typography educational series includes lecture topics, in-class discussions, and activities for students to explore and expand their relationship to design.
9. Monotype Acquires Fontworks: An Interview with Creative Type Director, Akira Kobayashi
This fall, Monotype announced the acquisition of Fontworks in Japan. We sat down with Akira Kobayashi, Creative Type Director at Monotype and 2022 Type Directors Club Medal winner, to discuss the acquisition and his thoughts on this new era of global type design.
10. A Font Designed from Historical Handwriting Tells the Story of Water in Reno
Confluence (now installed) is a 4,000+ word prose poem, winding for a mile along Reno’s Truckee River, expressing how water shapes and is shaped by all it moves through. Artist and writer Todd Gilens created the custom cursive font from historical handwriting samples compiled during his research.