distillery is leading a revolutionary project to help address the lack of diversity and inclusion in the creative industry. The studio has created ‘Diversity Type Project’, a unique initiative to bring our differences together and encourage brands, agencies & communities globally, to engage in the diversity conversation. The project will create a brand-new typeface that celebrates diversity and inclusion, and is created in partnership with the Diversity Standards Collective. It will also raise money for DEC, The Diversity Trust and UN Women, organisations who all champion diversity around the world.
According to PWC’s 2020 Global Diversity & Inclusion Survey, 33% of companies still view diversity as a barrier in their organisation. The lack of diversity within marketing, advertising and design has revealed a genuine problem; and the greater the impact we can have on expanding this conversation, the more awareness raised and action we can all take on improving diversity and inclusion across our industries. The Diversity Type Project aims to do exactly this.
Launched today, distillery will call upon designers from every part of the world and source creators from networks that have previously not been represented within the industry. With contributions coming from all corners of the world, distillery will bring together letters and numbers from the English alphabet inspired by individual stories and experiences. Once the typeface is created, distillery will encourage brands, businesses and individuals to adopt what distillery is calling ‘the official typeface of diversity.’
The agency has offices in London and Singapore, and is best known for its award winning work with a variety of clients including not for profits including The Disasters Emergency Committee, Oxfam and The World Food Program. distillery has created several campaigns where purpose was at the heart of the work. The Diversity Type Project was initially created to engage the internal team at distillery in an open discussion around diversity. It has since evolved into an outward expression of diversity – to engage the wider industry in the D&I conversation in a unique way by celebrating diversity across the world.
Guillet Libby, Creative Lead for distillery Singapore, comments:
“distillery has embarked on this project to further the conversation and importance of diversity and inclusion within the creative industry. Diversity isn’t something to be solved; it’s an ongoing journey that will be forever changing, and the industry needs to recognise this. We hope that by creating awareness around this initiative, we will encourage others to think about how we can positively promote diversity and cultural intelligence, and act on improving their knowledge and understanding of diversity in all walks of life. In essence, we should be celebrating our otherness as a part of the discourse for growth in our societies. Cultural intelligence can always be learned, practised and improved upon – we aim to do so by expanding the conversation.”
Rich Miles, Diversity Standards Collective CEO, comments,
“We’re all in this together. This is a shared responsibility. We have to repair these cultural nuances – it’s a constant thing that we have to do – and I think communicating with everybody is the best way for us to make a proper impact.”
How can designers and brands get involved?
Designers and brands seeking to get involved can visit diversitytype.com for more information. distillery will combine the best submissions into a downloadable typeface that will be available for everyone to use on World Diversity Day on 21st May 2021.
No matter your skillset, distillery is encouraging everyone to join in by contributing a character design inspired by their own personal story, background or life choices. The project believes that everyone has something to contribute so you don’t need to be a typographer or designer to do so. The Diversity Type Project welcomes all skill sets, at all levels. And if design isn’t for you, everyone can still get involved by helping distillery to name the typeface with a great story or word that is meaningful to you.
The website, design brief and other ways to get involved in this ground-breaking project, is LIVE NOW at diversitytype.com
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