This year, designers are opting for NF-Type, biodiverse type, and thin, light serifs, says Monotype report

9 Mar

Monotype has just published its annual Type Trends report, utilising typographic work from the past 12 months to see how type has influenced and adapted to our changing environments. The report spotlights ten key trends, all of which, the foundry explains, are directly connected to the times we’re living in, so tech, nostalgia, and environmental issues play key roles. Some of the major trends identified include Neue Nouveau; a style emerging from designers branding for biodiversity, multiple typefaces appearing across a singular identity, and NF-Type; as the market explores the possibilities around how fonts are licensed and distributed.

“The ten featured trends underscore how the intersection of an increasingly digital world and a period of prolonged ‘crappiness’ and stress have influenced the ways in which typography is both designed and applied to brand experiences,” explains the type foundry in a release. “Additionally, the report demonstrates how designers are quickly adopting bleeding-edge font technology to build beautiful text in emerging virtual environments.”

One of the notable trends the foundry outlines is the burgeoning relationship between biodiversity and typography. Monotype explains that the rise in organic forms, flourishes and svelte serif typefaces speak to a new visual language around sustainability, and how designers choose to depict these themes.

Thin, light serifs are back; “Svelte Serifs are a slimmed down, sophisticated update on the bold, round, old-style serifs” that the foundry saw a rise in last year, it says in the release. “Collins’ work with Swiss type foundry Dinamo Typefaces for the San Francisco Symphony is a beautiful example of this trend come to life.” Interesting, balloon letterforms in “Throw-Up graffiti style” with “plumpness, folds, and implied overlaps” has also been identified as a trend in the report.

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A key takeaway, which rings true for some of the typographic projects we’ve seen recently, is that utilising multiple typeface styles in one identity is in – Fast Company’s Innovation by Design from Triboro, and Henkel by Interbrand being some recent examples. Elsewhere, a trend identified in our very own round-up at the start of the year, kinetic, animated and motion-led type has come to life across several projects from Studio Dumbar, MIDI by Pentagram, and Andrei Robu Studio.

Finally, coinciding with the explosive potential of NFTs on the creative industry and art world, Monotype hints at designers beginning to discuss innovating the way fonts are licensed and distributed in a decentralised marketplace. The foundry lists a new initiative called Font.Community as an area to watch in the coming months; “It’s a community of designers, users, buyers, and speculators formed around a decentralised marketplace for fonts powered by Ethereum blockchain,” it explains. “Within it, fonts exist as tokens, and designers can sell full rights, issue shares, borrow money, earn interest, or even raise funds for their next font.”

You can read the full list of trends, also including organic mod fonts and loopy typefaces, on the Monotype site.