When typeface designers Robbie de Villiers and Jeremy Dooley met in the fall of 2011, they both had a similar vision: a typeface developed uniquely and exclusively for Chattanooga. They kicked the idea around and decided the time was right to make the first moves.
So, in November, they presented the idea at 48Hr Launch (a local entrepreneurship event), formed a team, and laid the first tracks for this initiative. Now, they’re calling on the community to help finish the process.
Mr. Dooley, owner of Insigne Design, and Mr. de Villiers, owner of Wilton Foundry, have years of experience as graphic and typeface designers, and have developed typeface families for organizations throughout the U.S. and overseas. If successful, this will be the first city typeface created and implemented for an American city, “an honor,” their site says. “Chattanooga has earned and a reflection of the ways this city is shaping up to be a national leader.”
"As we currently envision, the font will be available without cost exclusively to Chattanooga. We anticipate creating four weights, and style sets would allow unique font customizations for each district and major subsection of the Chattanooga metropolitan area, giving each area its own unique identity while still being part of the whole of Chattanooga," says the website.
The two typeface designers have partnered with D+J, a local branding firm, to launch a Kickstarter.com crowd-funding project for the typeface. There is a link to the Kickstarter page, and additional information, through the Chatype website: www.chatype.com.
An open forum will be held on Monday from 7-9 p.m. at The Camp House on Williams Street. The Chatype team wants this to be a time to present the status and direction of the project to the community, as well as hear feedback and get support for the initiative.