Did you know that, according to UNESCO, three-quarters of the world’s major conflicts have a cultural dimension? Bridging the gap between cultures is urgent and necessary for peace, stability, and development. But how can each of us help?
It was with the aim to answer this question that the Diversity Type Project was initially created to engage the internal team here at distillery in an open discussion about diversity.
distillery partnered with industry organisation such as D&AD, the Diversity Standards Collective, One Minute Briefs, Clear Channel, Femme Type and PoP to work on the project over the past 6 months.
"At the D&AD, we always aim to support projects that stimulate action and conversation around diversity in the creative industries. And font is the perfect medium to help share a positive message of inclusion, because it’s something we see and use everyday.. Diversity Type Project is a great opportunity for creatives across the globe to get involved and share their expression."
Donal Keenan - Awards Director, D&AD
The project has since evolved into an outward expression of diversity and is engaging the wider industry in the D&I conversation.
To create the typeface, distillery called upon designers from every part of the world and sourced creators from underrepresented networks to help design each unique letter. 308 creatives across 54 countries were involved in the project.
Partnering with the One Minute Briefs, we challenged their community to create promotional posters to celebrate celebrate the project, encourage brands and organisations to get involved & adopt the font for World Diversity Day.
We had an astonishing 164 designs entered, from #ombles across the globe.
Partnering with Clear Channel, 5 of those designs have been brought to life and are on billboards and posters across the UK and Brazil.
"We’re delighted to support the Diverse Type Project for World Diversity Day. It is enabling creativity to flourish in every walk of life, while creating something ultimately inclusive that is also useful for brands to proudly use in the future."
Lucy McKillop – Head of Brand Marketing at Clear Channel
We’re encouraging brands to download and use the font, starting on World Diversity Day 2021 (tomorrow, May 21) and we’ve had an overwhelming response. Here’s a sneak peak at how brands are using the font.
Use of the font raises money for three organisations: Disasters Emergency Committee, UN Women and The Diversity Trust who champion diversity around the world to create a more inclusive, safer, and fairer society for all.
Berkeley Wilde, Strategic Director at The Diversity Trust, had this to say about the Diversity Type Project’s support:
“The Diversity Trust mission is to influence social change, we are all about creating a fairer and safer society. We do this through education, awareness and campaigns. We are delighted to support this campaign which aligns with our core values. We want to make sure everyone is included and that no one is left out or unheard. Join us today and spread the word about this important campaign.”
To celebrate World Diversity Day, we have three exciting online events:
Join us for a livestream 10.30am for the launch of our #DiversityType font - with speakers from One Minute Briefs, Ten Bear Group, RIBA, The Diversity Trust and more. You can sign up here.
We’ll be launching our second One Minute Brief to encourage brands to use our font! Keep an eye on #Diversitytype on twitter to see this amazing community in action.
We’ll be going live on Instagram with Stylist Magazine, Monotype and one of our designers at 4pm UK time. Follow us on Instagram so you don’t miss out on a great discussion.
"Diversity is shown in this typeface through the variety of people who have contributed, inclusion is then how we weave the typeface into society and give those people a voice."
Steve Wheen, Founder, distillery
For more information and inspiration, get in touch.