I Am Martin

Type of Berlin

How to make a custom font represent the visual diversity and chaotic vibe of an entire city.

Client
I Am Martin
Discipline
Typography
Role
Photography, Design

Walking the streets of Berlin, you find visual expression as diverse as the culture and the people who live there. In seven days I photographed posters and street signs all over (and under) the city, collecting more than 50 different styles of typography in posters and signs. Visual proof of a wonderfully diverse city.

Every photo has been thoroughly reviewed, and every single letter of the alphabet picked with diversity and expression in mind. Each letter was then recreated in vector format and finally merged into a typeface that holds the visual diversity and chaotic vibe of the city. Type of Berlin.

The typeface, live

Every letter is taken from a photographed Berlin poster or street sign. Feel free to try it here and download it for free.

Download the typeface TTF · 10 KB
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Layered beer posters on a Berlin wall, Diskonter Bier and Pilsator in bold condensed type
Proof sheet of capital letters cut from Berlin posters and street signs
Proof sheet of lowercase letters collected from Berlin posters and signs
The finished Type of Berlin alphabet, A to Z, set over Tempelhof airfield
Market poster with heavy display type pasted on a Berlin wall
Graffiti-covered wall above a Dark Matter exhibition poster in Berlin
Repeated Dark Rooms exhibition posters pasted on a Berlin wall
House of New Energy poster asking 'Ist das retro oder lädt es die Zukunft?'
Berlin Bleibt! poster for HAU Hebbel am Ufer with an illustrated chess scene

More work.

Martin & the New Songrise Artwork and design for both digital releases and a 12″ vinyl edition. Print Aarhus Havn A complete new visual identity for Denmark’s largest commercial and container port. Brand