Creative Characters S1 E2: Scott Starrett on designing an authentic, memorable, winning (and now iconic) political identity.

In our second episode, Monotype Creative Type Director Charles Nix talked with Scott Starret, co-founder of the design studio Tandem NYC, about serendipity and the experience of designing for a transformational political candidate.

Sustainability: a way forward for brands, a challenge for design.

Today, it is a moral imperative that companies and agencies prioritize sustainable, environmentally friendly principles and practices. More and more consumers are demanding that brands act responsibly when it comes to environmental concerns. But what role does visual communication play in this topic, and how can type and design contribute to good sustainability practices?

Everything old is new again: a deeper look at nostalgia in design.

Over the past year or two, nostalgia has become a fixture in design of all kinds: typography, fashion, furniture and beyond. We take a look at the complex relationship between reviving heritage design elements and the history they come from. 

Do sci-fi fonts work in the real-world future?

In a recent episode of our Creative Characters podcast, the conversation centered around how the futures we envision aren’t always practical for the reality we live in – both in sci-fi films and fonts in car dashboards. 

Design by trial: Creating meaningful connections in virtual worlds.

Elizabeth Ann Clark, Chief Creative Officer at virtual reality studio, AEXLAB, talks about the power of VR in social contexts, some of her favorite design tools, and how her team came to select a student-designed typeface for the face of their flagship game.

5 tips for building a better font licensing strategy.

Kevin Laurino, Manager of Art & Print Production, Retouching, and Finishing at Netflix, shares some experiences from his career-long relationship with fonts and how to tame the beast that is managing a brand’s font licensing. Here are some tips to help get you started.

4 popular book cover design trends in 2023.

In this article, get a peek at recent and upcoming book releases in a variety of genres to get a sense of what typography styles are trending in publishing right now. This post is a guest piece from our friends at Reedsy, a website that connects authors with publishing professionals.

Meet the 2022 Beatrice Warde Scholarship recipient: Doah Kwon.

We caught up with Doah, who graduated in May 2023 from the School of Visual Arts with a BA in Design, with Rhodes Family Award and Honors. Doah talked about her type-driven design style, a recent project using machine learning and motion, and some of her biggest design influences. 

Meet the 2021 Beatrice Warde Scholarship recipient: Ximena Amaya.

We recently caught up with Ximena Amaya, a young designer who is currently interning at Pentagram. Ximena talked about her own bold and sometimes rebellious design style, her passion for the feminist movement in her home country of Mexico, and how design can be used as a communication tool.

Meet the 2021 Adé Hogue Scholarship recipient: Sakinah Bell.

In a recent interview with Monotype, Sakinah Bell, discussed how creative work has provided an outlet to improve her mental health as well as to process current events. Bell described her colorful, bold use of hand-drawn type, her senior thesis focused on metamorphosis, as well as the personal significance of winning the scholarship after overcoming many of life’s hardships.

Meet the 2020 Beatrice Warde Scholarship recipient: Tatiana López.

Every year, Monotype and the Type Director’s Club (TDC) award the Beatrice Warde Scholarship to a young woman entering the design industry. This prestigious scholarship pays tribute to the first lady of typography,” Beatrice Warde, a champion of type education throughout her career with Monotype and the first female member of the TDC.

A talk with Tom Foley on trends, the possible decline of Sans Serif, and what makes a type timeless.

Creative Type Director, Tom Foley, sat down Antalis Creative Power to discuss the 2021 Type Trends report, the state of Sans Serif, and consider what makes a font timeless in his latest interview.

First published on Antalis Creative Power

 

Soft serve digital and the importance of nostalgia during a crisis.

Phil Garnham, Senior Creative Type Director at Monotype Studio explores the evolution of type in digital and celebrates the heritage at the heart of the Burger King rebrand.

First published on BITE

Why it pays to pay for creativity.

Artists pour their heart and soul into their craft and creations and in an ideal world, every artist would be recognized and paid appropriately for their efforts. In reality, however, artists often have to fight for their rights to be upheld. This has been true for centuries and is only intensifying in the digital era.

Announcing the 2020 Type Champions!

Monotype is thrilled to introduce the recipients of the second annual Type Champions Award, a program that recognizes brands for their creative, innovative, and memorable use of typography in developing and maintaining their brand identities.

Will the real Futura please stand up?

Monotype’s Futura Now family is a revival and expansion of the famous typeface we all know so well. But do we know it, really?

Ed Benguiat, 1927-2020.

Ed Benguiat loved to draw letters. It’s what he did best. When he was not creating a new typeface, he could usually be found working on a piece of hand lettering or logo design for one of his many clients.

The next century of Futura.

It’s difficult to imagine the 20th century without Futura. Released by the Bauer Type Foundry in 1927, Paul Renner’s Futura was a near-instant hit that quickly established itself as an iconic, immovable piece of our shared culture.