ATYPICAL ANTWERP TYPOGRAPHY
| Title | ATYPICAL ANTWERP TYPOGRAPHY |
| Brand | CITY OF ANTWERP |
| Product/Service | LOCAL GOVERNMENT |
| Category |
F01. Typography |
|
Entrant Company
|
BRANDING TODAY Mechelen, BELGIUM
|
|
Advertising Agency
|
BRANDING TODAY Mechelen, BELGIUM
|
|
Advertising Agency 2
|
DUVAL GUILLAUME Antwerp, BELGIUM
|
Credits
| Tom Andries |
Branding Today |
Creative Director |
| Mathias Delmote |
Branding Today |
Managing Director |
| Jeroen Houtmeyers |
Branding Today |
Identity Designer |
| Jo De Baerdemaker |
Studio Type |
Typographer |
Brief Explanation
The city of Antwerp is Belgium's second largest city in terms of inhabitants, but it is definitely number one when it comes to creativity. It's a city with a rich cultural heritage, combined with a world-famous fashion industry. Next to a creative hotspot, it is a major economic hub in the country. This is due to being home to the second largest harbor in Europe, and having a flourishing diamond industry. This means that on a day to day basis, the city communicates with a challenging mix of over 500.000 inhabitants, thousands of visiting tourists and countless businesses.
The Brief
The visual identity of Antwerp needs an update to remedy 2 issues:
- the Antwerp logo is very well-known, but except for that the visual identity has few distinctive design assets that can help audiences visually identify it a publication as part of Antwerp.
- the brand strategy and positioning is reflected through the visual identity in a limited way, so the question was how this could be reinforced.
How the final design was conceived
We set out to prove the city's creativity by creating its very own innovative typography. This font supports the Atypical Antwerp claim by incorporating some atypical twist. These twists bring out the restless attitude that defines the city's inhabitants. Atypical for one single font, we integrated a combination of angular and curved letters that are derived from the logo shape. Additionally, we included lower case letters in the upper case font, giving it a distinct restless feel. Even more atypically, the font has 3 HEIGHTS instead of the usual weights: small, regular and tall.
Indication of how successful the outcome was in the market
This typography acts on Antwerp's claim as a creative hotspot. It remedies the need of a stronger visual identity recognition.