Fontsmith designs typography for government campaign to improve health of the over 40s

Fontsmith has created new bespoke typefaces that aim to address preventable diseases in the over 40s as part of the government’s One You campaign. The foundry was commissioned by M&C Saatchi, which has worked with Public Health England (PHE) on the One You campaign, which focuses on messages around drinking less, exercising more, eating better and giving up smoking.

“The typeface needed to connect with people, and find the right balance between being stylish, genuine and legible,” says Fontsmith.

The typefaces are used across all campaign materials, with a script caps face working alongside a sans serif caps version based loosely on FS Dillon. Fontsmith says: “For a government health campaign like this one it was absolutely vital to make the typeface unique so that it would become synonymous with the brand and message… The two fonts needed to balance each other with a similar presence, but at the same time create the right contrast to command attention.”

The script caps font was created by hand-painting lettering using inks, brushes and pens, aiming to achieve “rawness and texture” to give a more “authentic” feel, according to Fontsmith founder Jason Smith.