Global Brands, Local Fonts: Monotype Showcases Typographic Expertise in Cross-Border Brand Building at BITS10
HONG KONG, Nov. 13, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Monotype, a leading type and technology specialist, took center stage at the Bangkok International Typography (BITS) held from November 2nd to 4th. The BITS event gathered over 250 participants, including industry leaders, brand creatives, type designers and technology innovators from around the world.
Designers Ryota Doi and Di Tao from Monotype Japan and China, along with Shunya Morita from Fontworks, a company acquired by Monotype in September 2023, shared the latest Japanese and Chinese type trends and their expertise in building corporate typefaces for cross-border brand building. Doi and Tao highlighted China's preference for brushstroke typefaces that embody elegance and cultural heritage, while Japan tends to use a harmonious blend of hiragana, katakana, and ideographs, complemented by sleek sans serif typefaces.
The joint presentation emphasized the significant role of corporate typefaces in establishing a strong local identity while aligning with global branding strategies. Doi and Tao showcased successful projects completed for companies such as Great Wall Motor, Xiaomi, and Bridgestone.
Monotype developed a custom font named GWM Sans for Great Wall Motor, an international automotive company headquartered in China. This typeface integrates Latin and Chinese characters, enhancing the user experience on Human Machine Interface (HMI) interfaces. Monotype's expertise extended to Xiaomi, a Chinese multinational technology company, where they designed Thai, Lao, and nine Hindi scripts. It enables Xiaomi to provide localized services to their diverse user base worldwide. Bridgestone, a global leader in the tire industry, partnered with Monotype to establish consistent international branding across its global branches.
Shunya Morita, a type designer at Fontworks, shared his experience in developing a corporate font for LINE, a popular messaging platform widely used in Japan and other Asian countries. His sharing focused on the process of creating a Japanese font that seamlessly aligned with the original English version of the LINE corporate font, ensuring a harmonious bilingual experience for users.
"These collaborations with leading companies exemplify Monotype's commitment to creating typefaces that bridge cultural and linguistic barriers while serving as powerful tools for global branding," said Akira Kobayashi, Creative Type Director at Monotype.
As local brands continue to emerge in Southeast Asia and multinational companies expand their presence in the local markets, the demand for typefaces and branding solutions is growing. Monotype is committed to expanding its font library and partner network to meet the diverse needs of customers and create memorable brand experiences.
For more information about Monotype and its range of font services, please visit their website at www.monotype.com. Stay updated and engage with Monotype by signing up for upcoming events in Hong Kong, Mainland China, and Japan.
About Monotype
Monotype creates brands that matter with type, technology, and expertise. The company partners with leading foundries to deliver the broadest inventory of high-quality typefaces in the world for our customers. Monotype Fonts is the leading font management platform in the industry and combines the world's largest collection of award-winning type, the expertise of the most sought-after foundries and type designers and trusted and secure font management — all under a single agreement.
Monotype®, Helvetica®, Frutiger®, Helvetica Now™, and Neue Frutiger™ are trademarks of Monotype Imaging Inc. and may be registered in the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office and certain other jurisdictions. Avenir Next™, DIN®, and FF DIN™ are trademarks of Monotype GmbH and may be registered in the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office and certain other jurisdictions. Gotham® is a trademark of The Hoefler Type Foundry, Inc. and may be registered in the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office and certain other jurisdictions.
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SOURCE Monotype
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