A typeface for Northern Ireland...
Whether cycling along the Causeway’s coast, taking a promenade at Carrickfergus Castle or soaking in seaweed, if you plan to visit Northern Ireland this year you may well be reading a striking new headline typeface by Fontsmith.
Over the past few months, we’ve been busy working alongside Belfast based consultancy AV Browne in creating a bespoke typeface for the new identity of the Northern Ireland Tourist Board. We were asked to create an honest and human headline alphabet that imbued confidence and integrity. The new typeface also had to fit with AV Browne’s proposed graphic system for advertising and logo sub-headers. In response Fontsmith created a unique semi-serif headline typeface with a warm and amiable personality as well as designing two sans-serif text fonts that add a versatility and continuity throughout the identity.
Fontsmith type designer, Phil Garnham explains “We wanted to create a typeface with a strong geometric quality that would stand up and be proud but also create a type that had a warmth and familiarity to it. We softened the junctions, slightly condensed the proportions and introduced a more human and less monoline approach to drawing the curves.”
John McDermott, head of design at AV Browne continues “There is a real confidence in the strategy behind The Northern Ireland Tourist Board's new brand, and we wanted a bespoke typeface that would reflect that. The bold headline weight has that confidence, yet manages to bring through the unique and friendly personality that Northern Ireland offers.”
The type is now being used for the first time as part of the Tourist Board’s new Spring campaign which is centered around the theme ‘Relax. Rejuvenate. Refresh.’
