Deutsche Fassung | Versione italiana
Berlin, 11. März 2008
A new typeface for Berlin
Alessio Leonardi (BuyMyFonts.com) creates Change
Berlin designer Alessio Leonardi, founder and principal of the typographic company BuyMyFonts.com, has designed a new typeface for the City of Berlin.
On May 21, 2007 the Berlin City Council announced its decision to position the German capital as ‘Berlin. City of Change’ in accordance with the city’s marketing strategy leading up to 2011. A competition for the Berlin campaign was initiated in three categories – slogan, conception and design. The winner in the design category was the Berlin branding company Fuenfwerken Design AG. Within the campaign’s creative team, Fuenfwerken took charge of all graphic and visual aspects.
Fuenfwerken invited Alessio Leonardi to develop an original typeface for the campaign. In a subsequent phase, the Berlin government expressed its wish to implement the campaign’s graphic elements in its overall visual identity. This led to an extension of the assignment to Mr. Leonardi, who was commissioned to design a special variant of the Change type family to be used in the City’s day-to-day communication.
A typeface takes centre stage
In the campaign’s headline system, the Change typeface will assume a special role. Used for the campaign’s core statements in which Berlin’s inhabitants are the main actors, it represents all Berliners. Its entry onto the city’s stage will be accordingly vigorous and self-assured.
The typeface’s headline version, Change Letter, has as striking and practical character, just like the Berliners themselves. Self-assured and open, it possesses a few unmistakable typographical details that enhance the contents and lend it a strong, expressive personality.
From the campaign to the visual identity
The personal wish of Berlin’s mayor Klaus Wowereit to adapt the campaign’s graphic elements for the city government’s stationery presented the designers with a challenge. Although a striking display alphabet was already available, this typeface was not suitable for the new task, if only because of its relative wideness. Of course, its basic character should remain intact, but the overall impression was to become more subtle, modest and even. Thus, a more condensed sans serif family was developed. The Regular weight was made slightly lighter. All in all, Berlin’s new ‘municipal typeface’ is a balanced font family whose name embodies the city’s strategies for the near future: Berlin, City of ‘BMFChange’.
A growing typefaces family
The BMFChange family consists of two sub-families, BMFChange Letter and BMFChange Sans, each with four styles: Regular, Bold, Italic and Bold Italic. Further styles (Black und Black Italic) and a separate Script version are currently being developed.
The City of Berlin will have exclusive use of BMFChange for the advertising campaign and for the City’s communication. After this exclusivity period has elapsed, the type family is expected to become available at BuyMyFonts.com.
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This Press Release in PDF format
Text and pictures of the BMFChange