Title | THE POLITE TYPE |
Brand | TIETOEVRY |
Product/Service | IT SERVICES |
Category |
D02. Innovative Use of Technology |
Entrant
|
TBWA\HELSINKI, FINLAND
|
Idea Creation
|
TBWA\HELSINKI, FINLAND
|
PR
|
TBWA\HELSINKI, FINLAND
|
Production
|
TBWA\HELSINKI, FINLAND
|
Production 2
|
GREAT APES Helsinki, FINLAND
|
Production 3
|
TMI MELVAS TYPE DESIGN Vantaa, FINLAND
|
Additional Company
|
THE CHILDREN AND YOUTH FOUNDATION Helsinki, FINLAND
|
Credits
Jyrki Poutanen |
TBWA\Helsinki |
Chief Creative Officer |
Mikko Pietilä |
TBWA\Helsinki |
Executive Creative Director |
Virpi Grönlund |
TBWA\Helsinki |
Client Service Director |
Markus Nieminen |
TBWA\Helsinki |
Creative Director |
Juhana Hokkanen |
TBWA\Helsinki |
Innovation Director |
Joona Stedt |
TBWA\Helsinki |
Account Manager |
Simone Bocedi |
TBWA\Helsinki |
Senior Content Strategist |
Fredrik Stürmer |
TBWA\Helsinki |
Art Director |
Maria Kuorikoski |
TBWA\Helsinki |
Senior Creative |
Antti Halme |
TBWA\Helsinki |
Senior Creative |
Iida Sarpaniemi |
TBWA\Helsinki |
Graphic Designer |
Atso Wilén |
TBWA\Helsinki |
Graphic Designer |
Henrik Storsjö |
TBWA\Helsinki |
Video Editor |
Paula Sonne |
TBWA\Helsinki |
Communications Strategist |
Saana Simander |
TBWA\Helsinki |
Junior Communications Specialist |
Sara Pitzén |
TBWA\Helsinki |
Junior Communications Specialist |
Katariina Ollari |
TBWA\Helsinki |
Content Producer |
Eemeli Tani |
TBWA\Helsinki |
Performance & Analytics Manager |
Juho Ojala |
TBWA\Helsinki |
Planner |
Lisa Myllymäki |
TBWA\Helsinki |
Director |
Tuukka Tikkanen |
TBWA\Helsinki |
Producer |
Anton Tevajärvi |
TBWA\Helsinki |
Director Of Photography |
Aki Karppinen |
TBWA\Helsinki |
Gaffer |
Mikko Kuoppasalmi |
TBWA\Helsinki |
Editor |
Anssi Mahlamäki |
TBWA\Helsinki |
Motion Designer |
Ville-Matti Koskiniemi |
TBWA\Helsinki |
Sound Design |
Petri Falkenberg |
Grade One |
Post Production |
Aino Heiniö |
TBWA\Helsinki |
Costume Design |
Donna Maimon |
TBWA\Helsinki |
Casting |
Fanny Haga |
TBWA\Helsinki |
Photographer |
Jonna Yletyinen |
TBWA\Helsinki |
Still Producer |
Mika Melvas |
TMI Melvas Type Design |
Typeface Designer |
Jonna Louvrier |
External Consultant |
Diversity and Inclusion Advisor |
Michaela Moua |
External Consultant |
Diversity and Inclusion Advisor |
Sara Salmani |
External Consultant, Inklusiiv |
Diversity and Inclusion Advisor |
Anaka Kobzev |
TBWA Worldwide |
Global Head of Corporate Communications |
Melissa Gotleib |
TBWA Worldwide |
Global Communications Associate |
Doug Melville |
TBWA Worldwide |
Chief Diversity Officer, North America |
Kia Haring |
TietoEVRY |
Head of Communications and Sustainablity |
Hanne Haapoja |
TietoEVRY |
Head of Group Customer Insight |
Mari Tuokko |
TietoEVRY |
Communications Lead, Finland |
Reija Sihlman |
TietoEVRY |
Head of PR and Issues Management |
Nelli Melin |
TietoEVRY |
Digital Content Manager |
Annika Uusikari |
TietoEVRY |
Content Creator |
Describe the creative idea
The Polite Type is a font that recognises and rewrites hate speech. By launching a self-moderating font, TietoEVRY wanted to create discussion about toxic online culture and cyberbullying, the social responsibility of tech companies in solving these issues and innovative ways companies could use tech to foster empathy online.
Together with The Children and Youth Foundation and diversity and inclusion experts, we identified offensive language related to online bullying and created a word library where each word was given a more inclusive alternative or blocked altogether. This word library was then coded into an Open Type font file, creating a custom font that gives its users direct feedback on their language use.
The Polite Type is a font that can be used on any platform. All the functionalities are incorporated inside the font itself, so no applications, keyboards or such have to be installed.
Describe the execution
The font and its source code were made freely downloadable on the campaign website. The download kit contained easy-to-use instructions for installing the font. All material was produced in a way that would encourage participation and invite anyone interested in the project to join in developing the Polite Type further.
Apart from a small social media and influencer campaign in Finland, The Polite Type was launched as a PR initiative in August 2020. A week of PR pushes kick started the campaign that has since spread through earned and social media.
We were also able to scale the project up by cooperating with HEI Schools who have schools around the world. In addition to that, new NGO partner Friends Sweden is joining the project to take it even further.
The relevance for TietoEVRY is clear. An IT company whose vision is to create a brighter future together is creating a system that makes online platforms safer and more polite to everyone.
The beauty of the selected technology that we used is that it is easy to scale up. The font is a built-in tool for all online platforms being built and used. The font’s visual language was designed so that it works in various digital environments, both in a small and large size, in apps as well as on social media platforms. The visual language also adapts to other languages, writing systems and glyphs, for example Chinese characters.
The design and functionality were validated in multi-cultural focus groups in Europe and the US.