Develop Your Idea
For my final website, I want to showcase the font that I designed recently called ‘Grevillea’. It is inspired by a family of native Australian flora and is known for its unique flowers and shapes. I would like to create a digital specimen for the typeface as well as a ‘contact page’ and a ‘about Grevillea’ page which will detail the inspirations behind it and the more technical details.
Discovery & Research
Contrast Foundry Website
Many foundries use these interactive sliders to showcase the variable weight of their typeface. As Grevillea only has one weight, I cannot incorporate this element into my website. Although these interactive elements are fun, it wouldn’t be consistent with the feel, personality and intent behind my typeface. I would actually like to customise the layout of my specimen website to showcase the different sizes and features instead of only having a small window where users can interact. However, I will explore having a feature such as a type-box where users can customise the text that is displayed.
Target Audience
Potential Customers
The most likely audience for my website will be customers who are searching for a typeface for their project. This is where a type specimen is extremely important and gives the foundry an opportunity to showcase their font’s qualities. Whether that be versatility, extensive weights, variability, uniqueness, elegance and suitability for display or text applications. These customers are likely researching a range of fonts and foundry’s and therefore it is important to grab their attention as soon as they enter the website.
Students & professionals looking for inspiration
As a student myself, I often look for inspiration for my academic and personal projects; like this one. I always begin by researching other’s work and if available, their creative process. The availability and accessibility of websites such asm this one are important for creatives to share and inspire. Not only this but in any creative industry, professionals are constantly searching for sources of inspiration.
There are 3 ways to target these two types of audiences.
- Create an attractive home page to grab their attention and encourage them to explore further.
- Use interactive elements to allow the user to connect with the font and envision its suitability for their intended use.
- Make all the information — technical, contact, about and inspiration — easily available and accessible to the user.
Inspiration & Concepts
I was inspired by two Type foundries called Extrast and Type Supply. They both have very professional websites to display their typefaces and which allows the user to scroll through and explore, similar to a type specimen book. They both also have the navigation at the top which more information, a ‘contact us’ page and an ‘about’ page which I would like to include in my website. They are displaying their fonts in a range of sizes and applications to showcase their best qualities to the audience and potential customer or client. Every typeface is unique and therefore the specimen must be designed specifically for it.
Moodboard
I would like the specimen to have high contrast and a limited colour palette using only green and white. The high contrast is what will showcase the quality of the typeface to its highest degree. The overall mood will be elegant, and enchanting and have the personality of a fairytale or a Grimm’s brother’s book but with minimal or no imagery. After all, the typeface is the focus of the website and type specimens rarely include imagery at risk of confusing the intent or the audience.
Thumbnails & Sketches
Wireframes & Prototypes
Photoshop Comps
