Custom typeface
A Voice for The City
Corporate identity | design: i+D customer Montevideo City Government
Produce a custom typeface means giving shape to a voice, a specific communication timbre; it is building the broadcaster’s identity through the visual manifestation of linguistics.
Montevideo, the southernmost country capital in the Americas, gathers and distills the customs, ideas, projects, challenges and dreams of the million and a half people living in it. Introducing a typeface that reflects that diversity while it adds to the construction of an identity was the challenge proposed by the i+D design and communication studio.
Ciudadana (the new typeface for Montevideo’s government) had to serve as a link between the existing visual identity (built around the Ciudadela typeface) and the need to be up to date through a continual improvement of the public services, in this case communication. It had to be a transparent change, in the eyes of the people, but a perceptible technical improvement in terms of implementation and communication.
It is a modern grotesque that softens its shapes by removing its vertices, replacing them with curves that convey kindness and reflect a willingness to reach the other with respect; at the same time, the clean and precise shapes bring earnest, integrity and trustfulness to the message.
Its weight and slant variants allow for the visual hierarchy and differentiation required for clear and organized communication of complex messages.
Ciudadana is used on both physical and digital pieces, from public space signs to the intimacy of the website, from printed brochures to cultural activities advertising.
Ciudadana is a voice for the people: for their activities, their proposals, their concerns, and their celebrations. It is a visual record of the city life through the everyday activities.
