Font design and production
We create innovative typeface systems in many scripts for use in under-supported language communities in the U.S. and abroad. These are multi-font type families designed and produced for everything from printed matter to mobile devices.
With over 45 years of combined experience in type design, our process involves performing loads of research, establishing contacts with linguists, specialists and language communities, and doing what is necessary to create useful designs that are respectful of the needs and cultures of specific language communities. And we acquaint ourselves with the environments, both physical and technological, in which our work will eventually perform.
Consultation
Our ongoing research into African writing systems and experiences in developing digital products for specific language communities allow us to provide valuable consultation to tech developers and companies looking to create or adapt products for African markets.
Our process complies with growing efforts to use design thinking to inform engineers and developers who think rather narrowly about “technology transfer” — the flow of tech in a singular direction, from “us” to “them.” We've gained the understanding that we need to co-produce with our partners in Africa on their terms. So much of development is about bringing the Global South in line with the Global North’s institutions and values. For us, the values already exist in these places and they need to be respected and expanded.
Script Support
When designing type for under-supported writing systems, we sometimes discover that the language communities we’re working with have few reliable methods for entering text, thereby limiting the creation of important indigenous content. To address this, we’ve created computer keyboards and smartphone apps that facilitate the creation of indigenous content and promote local commerce.
In general, we’ve offered assistance and consultation in all activities that increase the availability of textual communications, such as preparing proposals for encoding supplemental characters in Unicode, as well as improving the models in existing Unicode charts. We’ve also assisted language communities in making additions to the Unicode Common Locale Data Repository (CLDR).