Are you there Brad? it’s me, Dominic
It’s our fault. We font designers need to communicate more with our clients.
I wrote to Brad Pitt. It was after the Oscars. An acting win for Minari. Remember that film? I got a credit for the typography even though it belonged to Brad. I can now have an IMDB page thanks to him. He probably felt guilty. He gave it to me after the glitter dust had settled. A hard man to get a hold of, is Brad. No email address, no Instagram, no X… He went off to make another film and I sat down to make another font. I’ve got a foundry now and I know how to make a more suitable font. For his next story.
This should be a two-hander. We should be working together at the development stage. We both rely on each other to produce good work. I never would have chosen my font Traho as the right one for his movie. Only Brad could have done that. He was the one eating, drinking and breathing Minari at the time. I told him later I had never even heard of the plant, let alone eaten it. Spoiler alert, Minari is a plant, like a type of lettuce.
The storytellers, creators, designers and film-makers are the ones who choose the fonts for their work, they know what they are looking for and they trawl through thousands of fonts to get there. Brad got there with Traho.
I was the last to know about it of course. I found out while the movie was playing in my local cinema. I asked them for a spare poster and I have since paid 70 euro to get it framed. I’m proud of it. The studio that made the movie, Plan B Entertainment, paid me no money, no credit and no mind, particularly when it came to my proclamation that the Traho font was free for non-commercial use only.
In fairness to Brad, Minari probably is non-commercial in his world. It’s no Fight Club. The movie eventually made 15 million dollars but it started out as a small independent movie. It was the little film that could. Just like my Traho font. The font was there when it won at the Sundance festival, the BAFTAs and the Golden Globes. It helped Minari reach a world wide audience, but a character set of 26 letters couldn’t serve that audience. The studio had to fundamentally change the promotion of the movie because the original font was built only for one language, American.
When Brad finally answered my calls for designer justice (was it the article I wrote featuring Erik Spiekermann?), I was to be credited on the upcoming DVD and Blu-ray releases. On the day it came out I bought the DVD. I didn’t have a Blu-ray player. When I got home that day there was a copy of the Blu-ray in my letterbox with a hand written note attached “Look inside” it said. On the inside of the Blu-ray case was a little recipe book written in my font. How to cook Minari. Oh Bradley.
Still though, we should chat more. If I had known what you were working on, I would have drawn more characters for you. I would have saved you from having to change the font halfway through Oscar season.
It’s my fault I know, I should have reached out. We can be a scary bunch. I know what’s like to be on the other side of font designers. They spend all their time arguing about non-existent rules of punctuation. Its stupid and intimidating from the outside. I’m sorry Brad. It was a nice movie.
To make sure something like this doesn’t happen again I’ve drawn a new font for you. Its a font family called Liet Display and it comes in Upright and Italic. I can’t guarantee that it will be right for your next project because you’ve disappeared behind those curtains again Brad, but I can guarantee that it’s better equipped than Traho to carry your next movie. Fight Club Two.
For starters, it will work in over 200 languages so you shouldn’t have to go changing your font in different countries. Its got 638 characters which appear in two styles (italic and upright) and across five weights. This gives you a total of 6,380 characters to work with. The other thing about Liet Display is that its a brand new font.
Heres a good rule of thumb, if you want to sell something new, use a new font to do it. The interaction of lines and curves that make up Liet Display have never been seen before. Some character shapes and patterns will surprise you on a subliminal level and stimulate your brain. Now think about how that can entice anyone who’s discovering your product through this new font.
We expect our letters to look a certain way. Its a balance, new designs are attractive but cannot be distracting. Our aim is to be familiar but not boring. Thats why changes are subtle and usually within a range. Liet Display plays with with our expectations. The font exists between italic and upright, sans and serif. Its more formal than an upright italic, more elegant.
Anyone who wants to try my Liet Display font, they can, for free, before they buy a licence. Just get in contact with me and I will send you a free sample. Don’t be a stranger Brad.
Myfonts: myfonts.com/collections/liet-display-font-stanley-fonts
Fontspring: https://www.fontspring.com/fonts/stanley-fonts/liet-display
Instagram: @stanleyfonts
X: @domostanley
LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/dominicstanleydesign
