Introducing Multitype
Multitype celebrates independent typeface design and offers alternatives to the font industry’s monopolistic conglomerates.
It is a tool and a platform, free and ad-free, launching in early 2022.
The Long Story
During one of my recent internet-scavenging sessions I came across a good article [
] by design critic Anne Quito: “A famous type foundry’s sale to a PE-backed giant has rattled the font industry.” The Quartz piece divulges and dissects Monotype’s somewhat shocking acquisition of Hoefler & Co., once a bastion of independent typeface design¹. Though I was aware of the transaction at the time, what surprised me — negatively so — were the dynamics of Monotype Imaging Inc.’s business operations.
Here’s a slightly bitter summary: Monotype is a monopoly-seeking enterprise run by a leadership team comprised of non-design executives on a grand mission to make money for their private-equity backers, a business and financial model that stiffles experimentation and innovation and permeates mediocrity in the typeface design industry. In addition to their own library of fonts, the conglomerate owns the Linotype catalog, MyFonts.com, FontShop, Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, blah blah blah, etc.
I haven’t licensed a Monotype-owned font in years, as most of the classics in their library, their cash cow, have a contemporary equivalent designed and released by an independent foundry whose work I follow closely, admire, and objectively and subjectively prefer. This typeface selection process seemed scalable enough to be the backbone of a new project, which I have cheekily titled Multitype.
Multitype will launch in early 2022, initially as a website that displays alternatives for every complacently profitable Monotype classic, all sourced from independent type designers and foundries. With time, the project’s aspirations will certainly grow and evolve, as the industry’s monopolistic behavior isn’t exclusive to Monotype and I’m cognizant of the fact that there are multiple ways to promote and celebrate independent typeface design.
Despite my disdain for Monotype, I find it imperative for this effort to respect the conglomerate’s designers and employees. In more direct words, Multitype will not criticize or humiliate anyone and will instead focus on offering alternatives that encourage typographic advancement.
Lastly, I do not intend for this project to be a tool for propagating a singular point of view — especially my own. Though it is impossible to create a completely neutral platform, Multitype will count with a network of globally-distributed, culturally-diverse collaborators (I also recognize that it is very hard to create something truly great by myself). If you’re interested in participating, or have anything you’d like to share, please contact me at [email protected].
Yours,
Gabe Ferreira []
¹ I am not a fan of the ethics of post-Frere-Jones Hoefler & Co. (once called Hoefler & Frere-Jones), though I do recognize the foundry’s relevance in typeface design history and what its acquisition represents.
This website is typeset in Epicene Text [] by Klim Type Foundry.