If you are a designer like me, you are probably used to staying indoors for hours but this lockdown can bore even the world’s best indoorsy person. The upside, like with many things we see to be bad, is that you can use this time to learn something new and fun.
For me, this new and fun thing is learning to design fonts. Yes, fonts!
I haven’t designed any worth sharing with you but my first fonts will be called Clad (lol, what were you expecting from a narcissist?)
But why learn font design? Because font design is obviously the next phase of top-notch branding.
Already, the world’s top companies and brands have custom typefaces for use both in print and digital media. They are not doing that for the fun of it. Here are three (3) reasons why you have to consider custom fonts for your brand:
Security
It may come as a surprise but this is the most important reason why you have to consider custom type. When anyone wants to create a fake version of any of your documents, the person will need to have access to your fonts to be able to do that. Using commercial or free fonts on the internet for branding means that fraudsters and other bad people can create copies of your brand materials with ease.
MTN used to design with Myriad Pro. Even though it’s a commercial font, it was about the most popular font, second only to Helvetica in my opinion.
Today, it will be almost impossible to create anything MTN because the company uses a custom font called MTNBrighterSans. It’s unique to the MTN brand and you will not be able to get it anywhere on the internet.
Distinction
The reason why companies spend millions of dollars on logos and brand materials the world over is to create a unique identity. If your company uses the same fonts the one next door uses and you have no rights over the typeface, how do you stand out? This is why there is too much emphasis on colours when you talk about branding in Ghana.
Many have no idea how to stand out beyond colours and layout. This is totally understandable in the absence of custom typeface but that can change with designers like me who have taken it upon ourselves to get ready for this new frontier.
Art Direction
Every brand has a personality and a uniqueness but most times looking for a font means searching through thousands of typefaces to choose one that fits your brand. The easier way is to design one that’s unique to your company or business in every way possible.
Folks, this is why I am using my lockdown period to learn typeface design. I will share with you my first set of fonts (which will be free for download here on this site).
Stay home, stay safe and let’s kick COVID-19 out!