Typefaces made from the handwriting of the homeless
A charity in Barcelona has come up with an inventive approach to helping the homeless: making fonts out of their handwriting.
The Arrels Foundation has unveiled a collection of fonts made from the handwriting of people who live on the streets. These distinctive handwriting fonts are being marketed to big brands in the hope that they will be purchased and used for packaging, advertising and other materials. The proceeds will go towards the foundation's projects to support homeless people in Barcelona.
Each font is named after its creator, and the website contains a video of each person telling their story and conveying their experience of homelessness. "The only word I've found that really [describes] the street is horror, absolute horror," says one participant. The video on the homepage shows another participant, Loraine, browsing bottles of olive oil from Valonga, a Spanish company that has used her font for its packaging.
The typefaces can be downloaded under a personal licence (€19), or for professional use (€290).
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Tanya is a writer covering art, design, and visual effects. She has 16 years of experience as a magazine journalist and has written for numerous publications including 3D World, 3D Artist, ImagineFX, Computer Arts, net magazine, and Creative Bloq. For Creative Bloq, she mostly writes about web design, including the hottest new tools, as well as 3D artwork and VFX.