A Neue Way
As I sat in the corner of the room, every single designer had their eyes glued to the screen as they watched Gumpita from Tokotype fondle with the measurements of the font. They were mesmerized as they noticed the minuscule details that was unseen to an average person’s eyes. Even as Abel (UI/UX Design Ops) enthusiastically described the project to me, I had trouble understanding. However, I was still engrossed into the process. I never occurred to me how much effort and time went into creating a typeface.
Creating a typeface is a sacred art form that not everyone can master. Besides pulling something out of nothing, they have to take into account the personality of a brand that they just met. People tend to overlook fonts, because they don’t understand the amount of effort it takes to create one.
Before getting into the nitty gritty details of typefaces, fonts, and typography let me give you a brief guide.
- Typography is the visual component of the written word.
- A typeface is a set of one or more fonts that share a common design feature.
- A font is a graphical representation of text that may include a different typeface, point size, weight, color, or design.
Now that you are well acquainted with the terms, we can finally welcome FAZZ Neue. FAZZ Neue was created support digital needs such as applications, websites, e-pubs, to digital ads for PAYFAZZ brand communication.
Three months ago, PAYFAZZ’s Tewi (Chief Experience Officer & VP Product) and Abel (UI/UX Design Ops) saw that PAYFAZZ had a problem. They realized that the fonts being used in the company’s products didn’t reflect the company’s character. It’s a feeling that they couldn’t shake off. It’s almost as if you’re reading the MRT destinations in cursive, it doesn’t match right? That’s when they decided that it was time for the company to create a new typeface.
The two started from the root of the problem, which was: “PAYFAZZ needs a typeface that properly reflects its true characteristics”. However, they needed someone who understood the process, and had plenty of experience. That’s where Gumpita from Tokotype comes in. They instantly got down to business, and a few gruesome weeks later FAZZ Neue was born.
Before creating the new typeface, the three had to keep FAZZ Financial’s characteristics in mind. It was tricky at the beginning, because of the numerous products we have. Every product has its own attributes and specialty, so it was hard to generalize it to one thing. They also had to picture how would the typeface look like on an app, on a brochure, and on a billboard.
After a month or so, they had their very first rough draft. It wasn’t pretty, but it was a start. The draft obviously isn’t the finish product, but now that the hard part is over all they have to do now is to fine tune it.
The typeface itself is blended with modern, yet unique framework. They had to make sure that it will be legible to read on certain screens and browsers. You definitely wouldn’t want to download an app with a sloppy and obscure typeface. In this case looks definitely matter. To make sure that users wouldn’t have a hard time reading, they had a survey. They showed FAZZ Neue, and everyone had a pleasant experience using the new typeface. Just like that all the hard work and revisions that three had to do was worth it.
When they came to the end of the project with the end result, they were content. PAYFAZZ has big dreams for the future, and creating FAZZ Neue is taking our dreams to the next STEP.
