PROCESS 4 Problem 6 Concept 8 Research 10 Development 14 Troubleshooting PRODUCT 20 Specimen 28 Test Drive 38 Citations
MoonClerk is a software company that provides a service to non-technical business people so that they can accept recurring payments easily and affordably. To the right are the co-founders of the company, Ryan Wood, who serves as the CTO, and Dodd Caldwell, the CEO.
MoonClerk’s website currently uses Futura for their logo, which became a large influence for my own type, and Proxima Nova for the headers and copy. My goal with this project was to create a typeface to embody the values and goals of the company.
The majority of my research was determining what attributes of MoonClerk should be portrayed in this typeface. Both owners gave three adjectives that describe how they want the company to be perceived. I condensed their answers into these three adjectives: authentic, modern, and trustworthy.
I based my typeface on Futura because the clients are familiar with it. However, I wanted to incorporate aspects of Humanist typefaces, such as broader letters, to convey that the company is not run by machines, but by real people with compassion and dedication to their customers. I pulled inspiration from Gill Sans.
One of my favorite parts of this process was seeing my typeface in action. Creating words showed me flaws with some of my letters, but it showed me many ways in which they are successful. I learned a great deal about kerning and patience during this time.
Consistency and cohesiveness are crucial when creating a typeface, but were particularly tricky to achieve with several of my letters. I wrestled with whether the ‘M’ and ‘W’ should have slanted or straight sides. I also progressively increased the midpoint height to make them more effective.
The ‘K’ was difficult to complete. I wanted it to be strong, but also convey the authenticity of the company. I had to experiment with the angles of the two arms and where they intersect. The ‘K’ became resolved when the intersection was brought down closer to the x-height.
The ‘S’ was absolutely the hardest letter to resolve. The interior space of the minuscule ‘a’ was used as inspiration to create these curves. It took many attempts with slight tweaks each time to create a letter that would blend in with the curves and proportions of the rest of the typeface.
Page 2-3: Mill 1 (hyperlink) Page 4: Ryan Wood http://atlaslocal.com/greenville/ryan-wood/ Page 4: Dodd Caldwell http://atlaslocal.com/greenville/dodd-caldwell/ Page 20-21: Mill 2 (hyperlink) Page 30: Black Tshirt (Created by Freepik) Page 31: Billboard (Created by Graphictwister - Freepik.com) Page 33: Poster (Created by Designertale - Freepik.com) Page 35, 36: Computer (Created by Anthonyboyd - Freepik.com) Page 36: Laptop (Created by Tomasz_tuz - Freepik.com) Page 39: Business Cards (Created by Freepik)