5 Type Foundries by Designers of Color
Typography is everywhere.
As designers, we have the choice to choose typefaces created by designers we want to support. It comes with the responsibility of understanding the origins of the typeface and who it may represent.
According to Zippia.com, Hispanic or Latino designers make up 10.3% of graphic designers in the United states, 8.3% are Asian, 3.3% are Black, and 0.5% are Native American. The remaining 75% of graphic designers in the United States are White. Diversity in design is essential to creating a world that represents and reaches an audience full of varying identities. Tré Seals, the founder of Studio Seals and Vocal Type Co., says it best:
When a singular perspective dominates an industry, regardless of any advancements in technology, there can (and has been) only one way of thinking, teaching, and creating. This lack of diversity in terms of race, ethnicity, and gender, has led to a lack of diversity in thought, systems (like education), ideas, and, most importantly, creations.
Tré Seals, founder of Studio Seals and Vocal Type Co.
Here are 5 of my favorite type foundries founded by designers of color:
01 Vocal Type Co.
Vocal Type was founded by Tré Seals in 2016.
Tired of designs that looked the same and lacked diversity - Seals set out to create a foundry that “cares about telling the stories of the people we serve and not the false history of the industry we work in.” All of the typefaces designed by Vocal Type are inspired by a movement or historic moment in United States history determined by the people. For example, the typeface Ruby was inspired by the little girl who first integrated into a Southern elementary school after the Supreme Court deemed the “separate but equal” school system was unconstitutional. You can view Vocal Type’s powerful typefaces here.
02 Velvetyne Type Foundry - vtf
The Velvetyne is a type foundry created by Frank Adebiaye.
The foundry creates open-source fonts which means designers can modify and redistribute their typefaces as they please. This ultimately makes typography more accessible to the public so more people can understand how it works. The company prioritizes creative practice and hopes to encourage dynamic “contemporary creation” by allowing users to form their own point of view with their typefaces. VTF is perfect for lovers and students of typography looking to be inspired or experiment within their own design practice.
03 Type63
Type63 is a foundry celebrating Filipino type designers.
They feature a variety of designers from the Filipino community on their website, many of whose fonts are free to download. Many of the typefaces are inspired by everyday objects and the surroundings across the Philippines. Inspirations range from traditional Filipino tattoos (Batok), metro streets (Abangan), vintage Philippine stamps (Liham), and much more. As a second-generation Filipina, it was exciting for me to find such a foundry that allows me to explore my culture through design. You do not need to be Filipino, however, to enjoy these typographers. Peruse through Type63’s designers and read about their processes to help develop your own.
04 Latinotype
Latinotype was founded in 2007 by Luciano Vergara and Daniel Hernández.
They are based in Chile and all of their designers value their connection to their cultural identity. They share a common goal of providing Latin-American inspired typefaces to the world. Latinotype offers a wide variety of fun, sophisticated, technical, display, decorative, and body typefaces. For students on a budget, they offer some fonts that you could download for free. Some of their best selling fonts are Trenda and Isidora, both are sans-serifs with a friendly feel and wide offering of type styles. Explore more of their typography on Latinotype.com.
05 Pampatype font foundry
Lastly, we have PampaType Font Foundry founded in 2001 by Alejandro Lo Ceso.
PampaType is also a South American foundry, but has its roots in Argentina. The team at PampaType carefully crafts their type by hand which lends many of their type a warm, sophistication and calligraphic nature. Typefaces that exemplify this include Amster, Atahualpa, and Berenjena. Each gives a different voice to the words set in their designs, but all are strong personalities. I appreciate how this foundry humanizes their typefaces and brings a contemporary feeling to some of their Old Style inspired fonts. Test some of PampaType’s designs here.
Summary
These are only a few amazing foundries diversifying design.
Even a brief look into their process can be enlightening to designers across the globe. They provide new ways to think about the world around us and how it can inspire meaningful, culturally-conscious design. We have the responsibility of amplifying these designers and the opportunity to reach larger audiences when we support them. Here’s to creating a world richer in perspective and empathy.
View how I used Vocal Type’s Martin in my timeline project We Won’t Move.
