Recently, the importance of visually-appealing fonts is getting more and more realized by designers, artists, and businesses alike. How a piece of text looks, is now just as important as what the text actually conveys, and the rest of the design’s big picture. This growing demand for well-designed typography encouraged designer Jo Malinis to launch Type63.

Assembled on Instagram and Facebook, Type63 is an account dedicated to showcasing stunning type designs and typography by Filipino designers alone, moved by the lack of platforms focused on solely local designs. Since its launch over a month ago, the collection is now close to a hundred submissions of different type designs — ranging from styles inspired by jeepney signages, traditional writing systems, and other visually-striking concepts from everyday Filipino culture.

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Superduper is a custom display typeface created by @andahalfph for Digital Walker’s campaign identity. Its blockiness calls back to the logo created by @raxenne. And A Half gave it two weights and two variations, all uppercase and monospace, bringing both balance and boldness to headlines. Digital Walker (@digitalwalkerph) is one of the Philippines’ leading retail stores for gadgets, with branches across the country, from Manila to Cebu. #type63

A post shared by Type63 (@type63_) on Aug 27, 2020 at 3:22am PDT

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To show her strong opposition against the Anti-Terror Bill (now law), @kittyjardenil created some typographic protest layouts using @ohnotypeco’s ”Obviously” typeface. Obviously has a lot of different weights, from condensed to extra wide, making it easy to mix and match them to fit a limited space. #type63

A post shared by Type63 (@type63_) on Jul 29, 2020 at 8:06am PDT

The page holds some of the most impressive and diverse type designs by local artists throughout the years, with several submissions used for client work, festival branding, and even personal projects. A few notable works that were featured in major campaigns are Nilad for the Escolta Block Festival by designer Vince Africa, the iconic Archipelago type by And A Half Studios, and the custom typeface created by designer CMYKa for the 2019 Cebu Zine Fest poster.

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Nilad is a display calligraphic typeface made by @vincentrogel of @publicschoolmnl specifically for the inaugural year of Escolta Block Festival (@escoltablock). The brief was to create a font in line with the festival’s theme, “Future Forward.” The typeface is named after a shrub that grew abundantly along the shores of Pasig River and Manila Bay, from which Manila’s name is derived. It includes a Baybayin set that is meant to work seamlessly side by side with its roman alphabet counterpart. The type draws influences from the city’s past, melding it with the present, and brings it forward to the future. #type63

A post shared by Type63 (@type63_) on Sep 28, 2020 at 3:50am PDT

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To start, @andahalfph began with the custom logotype as a base. They created a pointed slab serif that had to be thick with enough contrast and spacious counters to provide a good canvas for the illustrations. They then digitally illustrated each individual scene. Every letter of the logo is unique and depicts every step of the gin-making process, from gathering the water, picking and distilling the botanicals, to eventually celebrating by drinking the gin. And A Half focused on color and positive and negative space. They had to be detailed paintings when viewed closely, while clear and readable letters when zoomed out. The logotype was also rendered in different styles across the packaging like the cross-hatched version. (3rd of 3 posts for Archipelago) #type63

A post shared by Type63 (@type63_) on Aug 8, 2020 at 5:43pm PDT

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First feature is a high-contrast custom typeface from last year’s Cebu Zine Fest poster that was designed by @cmyka.type for @tropicalfutures #type63

A post shared by Type63 (@type63_) on Jul 5, 2020 at 2:07am PDT

The initiative is a fun and much-needed avenue to show off the country’s creativity and talent in calligraphy. On top of compiling the best of Pinoy-centric typography, it’s also a great way to encourage and motivate type designers who work tirelessly for these projects, and almost never get the recognition they deserve.

Type63 also pushes its commitment to the typography community further by introducing Type Talks Tuesday, a conversation with creatives about all things design. Its first guest, Aaron Amar, created some of the most popular works on the page — Cubao Free, Quiapo Free, and Matatas One — and shared his type journey, as well as some pieces of advice for aspiring designers. New episodes are scheduled to go live every fourth Tuesday of the month.