Liebefonts challenged itself to reproduce the writing of a ballpoint pen as authentically as possible, using a combination of the latest colour font technology and OpenType features. The bitmap colour font is based on high-res digitised ballpoint pen writings with lots of ligatures and alternate letters. Typical handwriting attributes like symbols and doodles, and underlines and strikethroughs, give this typeface its charm. In total the font contains almost 500 glyphs.

Creative Practitioner

Amazingly Real Looking Handwritten Messages

Kiriko is unlike the usual approach to font design, focusing on impact rather than readability. Japanese is written using Kanji, Kana, and Latin alphabets, all of which have different structures. Kiriko has bold shapes that stand out from these structures in a comfortable way.

Kiriko Color

Climate Crisis is a variable font designed to help visualise the urgency of climate change, commissioned by TBWA\Helsinki for Helsingin Sanomat, the largest Nordic newspaper. The typeface’s weight responds to the levels of Arctic sea ice from 1979 to 2019 and predictions for 2050, based on data from the National Snow and Ice Data Center. Published as an open source project, it is available for free so its use can raise awareness and invoke a call for action.

Climate Crisis Font

The San Francisco Symphony is a 108-year-old international cultural touchstone with a legacy of rewriting the rules to advance the relevance of the orchestral arts. The organisation has passed the baton to visionary conductor and composer Esa–Pekka Salonen, and is transforming programming approaches and subverting hierarchy of the industry through a DEI-focused organisational overhaul. Collins was invited to clarify, define and express this vision with the Symphony, re-asserting classical music as a crucial contemporary art form – staying rooted in community and strengthening century-old bonds.

Creative Design Director

Type Designer & Co-founder

San Francisco Symphony Dynamic Typography

Swirl is a vegan ‘cremerie’ in Montreal, Canada that sought to create a youthful, bold expression that doesn’t say ‘vegan’. Its founders are inspired by marks from the street fashion world and wanted an original logo that could stand iconic and distinct, unlike any other in the category. The curvaceous custom mark is directly inspired by the smooth texture of Swirl’s ice cream. Drawn by hand then digitally perfected for a logo that’s fun, original, bold, spirited, ‘swirly’ and reminds you of the act of enjoying Swirl.

Curation by Ksenya Samarskaya

Ksenya Samarskaya

Type Design judge D&AD

My favorite winning projects