Language is never neutral. Even if we use the same language to understand each other,
everyone has his own way of using it. The way we speak and write is influenced by our
environment, our experiences and how and where we learn to use words.
Letters are the basic element to form words and thereby use them to speak but
also in a written form.
By writing with universal typefaces like Times New Roman, Helvetica or Arial we give our
written words a visual appearance the majority knows and can use it as a common visual
communication tool.
But as we know language and communication is never neutral. So how would it be if we
would express it’s individual nature by creating your own alphabet with it’s own typeface?
It would look different for everybody, depending on what someone associates and
connects with single letters. It’s out of the question that it would make the communication
between each other very difficult. But it also creates a diversity of visual forms of language.
And to create your own individual typeface could be a great way to find out more about
how you link your personality and experiences to the way you express things.
The typeface from “Müller & Hess”
is a perfect example for an unneutral individual
typeface. It underlines their statement of “the impossibility of neutrality.” They creates an
alphabet based on pictures of things they are surrounded by and to which they have a
connection to. For everyone who just sees the pictures it stays unclear what they mean
and for which letter they stand. They created their typeface to contrast the “neutrality” of
their home country Switzerland.
For us this was the impulse to create each our own typeface which is not made for universal
use and doesn’t try to be as neutral as possible in order to be used by as many people as possible. It’s only readable for ourselves.
