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Designing for Diversity: How fonts shape culture, typographic inclusion for African languages

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Designing for Diversity: How fonts shape culture, typographic inclusion of African languages; aims to explore how best to represent and include African orthographies in type design. African languages, of which there are thousands, have been historically underrepresented and remain underserved as communications move towards a predominantly digital context. In a multilingual, screen-based global culture, typography has become the vehicle for communication and the method in which language systems are inscribed and archived. Language support for typography has increased in recent years, however localisation for African orthographies remains minimal with limited font options available across platforms. The proposed artistic work is a type revival, using the framework of a historical model, reinterpreted and redesigned for contemporary use and technology with the inclusivity of African language support. Type design considers the way fonts are developed and implemented in typography historically and scientifically; while the process of reviving a typeface requires redrawing, revisiting and redeveloping typefaces from an artistic perspective. This process of investigation intends to explore the decolonisation of type design and illustrate the need for inclusivity of African languages in design methodologies. Shifting focus to provide insights and knowledge on how fonts are used in an African context, how to approach inclusivity, and what should appear standardised in typefaces. The perceived outcome would be the production of a versatile typeface family covering a wide selection of African languages. The findings of the working period will be collated into an accessible open source framework, with design information that can be commented on and viewed publicly. This would provide a collaborative knowledge pool for type designers and designers to inform future typefaces.

Designing for Diversity: How fonts shape culture, typographic inclusion for African languages. The artistic work focused on greater inclusion of African language support in typography. African languages, of which there are thousands, have been historically underrepresented and remain underserved as communications move towards a predominantly digital context.

Our work is represented in two parts: The first is an open-source web-based platform that is focused on documenting and organising linguistic data for African languages. The platform aids dissemination, making it more accessible for future type designers to incorporate African language support.

The work compiles a list of 1,416 Latin characters, identifying more than 130 as unique to native African languages. Currently, 2,645 known African languages are catalogued, of which 226 have been identified as using Latin script as (one of) their writing systems. Each of these languages has then been mapped geographically to 54 African countries. Characters, languages, countries, and their interconnections are organised into a single database and made accessible by a browser-based user interface. This tool automatically generates the required character map, allowing users—writers, publishers, software developers, and type designers—to copy-paste directly into other software.

The second aspect is an open-source font called Standardgraph, which contains over 300 characters specific to African orthographies for Pan–African language support. The design of the font is influenced by technical lettering and early computer fonts. Stylistically this allows the viewer an unobscured focus on the structure, proportions, and shapes, that could be easily adapted to another type designer’s font.

We aim to maintain the platform's language list and character set over time and keep it up-to-date when new research and data become available or supported. Project available at https://publicletters.co/index.php?page=africa

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