Portland (USA) based advertising agency Wieden + Kennedy contacted us with a simple brief: they needed a stencil version of Bodoni that supported the three scripts Latin, Greek and Cyrillic. However, the required font did not exist. Instead of designing a completely new typeface, TypeTogether advised a more immediate and inexpensive solution: modifying an existing retail typeface.
The choice for a starting point fell on Paratype's Bodoni version, because it already has Cyrillic and Paratype kindly granted permission for modifying the original drawings for this custom typeface according to W+K's brief. The Greek on the other hand, based on an open source version, was almost entirely drawn from scratch.
We improved the design of the three scripts, added the stencil cuts and joined them under the Paratype Bodoni font file. The features that had to be adapted, include increase in contrast, change of serifs, change in some lettershapes and more. The position of the stencil cuts follows a natural logic creating a subtle and elegant impression. The resulting advertising typeface is being used for the global campaign for LEVI'S, in all Caps setting with additional tracking. This required only a small fraction of the time and investment that would be needed for a complete tailored font.
W+K Design credits for the campaign:
CREATIVE DIRECTORS Eric Baldwin / Tyler Whisnand / Don Shelford
PHOTOGRAPHY Christian Weber
DESIGN Steve Denekas / Jason Murray
TypeTogether is an indie type foundry committed to excellence in type design with a focus on editorial use. Additionally, TypeTogether creates custom type design for corporate use. We invite you to browse our library of retail fonts or contact us to discuss custom type design projects.