Why you should be Making Fonts

Never once did i think i would fall into type design. There were already an endless supply of great typefaces and the thought of building one from scratch seemed time consuming and fruitless. In reality it’s been one of the most gratifying aspects of design for me. 

Creating my first typeface came out a necessity rather than want, I had been working on a branding project, I knew the look i wanted clearly in mind mind. Looked through my massive font collection, nothing felt right, searched the usual sites, nothing, obscure corners and crevices of the internet, empty. I figured i’d just do it myself. 

After a few weeks and muddling through free software, it was done, perfect? No, not even close, in reality it was probably a mess. Was it mine? Entirely. As i created more fonts the collection started to develop an imperfect cohesive aesthetic. Things became easily recognizable as “my work”. I would type a word and it would look different than anything else another designer made. That was when i started to realize how powerful type could be in driving a personal style. By creating your own typeface you're not relying on someone else’s work to drive your own, you're in control of every aspect. Think of yourself as a craftsman tailoring each piece, rather than cobbling things together you've found which are close enough. It makes things feel real and rooted in a different time and place. 

One of the most unexpected gifts of creating these fonts was the community. In the beginning friends would say “hey thats cool” so i would share them and they would make things. Later I thought i’d put them on my site to see if anyone wanted to use them. The reaction i got still blows me away. The most rewarding part of everything is seeing the fonts pop up here and there on other projects. They're like art you can share, that then spreads on its own. 

None of this is to say you shouldn't use outside typefaces, i still do all the time and will keep collecting them until my hard drive catches fire. Just that exploring what you can craft entirely on your own can be endlessly gratifying and rewarding.