February 14, 2017
Forget Helvetica or Georgia – now you can try your hand at writing papers in West Philly or Rittenhouse.
That's because Cliff Ross, the Philadelphia-area advertising agency, launched 10 fonts inspired by the city's neighborhoods on Tuesday.
The 7-year-old agency rolled out the typography set to introduce the company's custom design service. The fonts also are free to download for a limited time.
The font types were created by designer Cliff Ross and Kristina Arsi with each neighborhood's personality in mind.
Take the company's Brewerytown font, for example. It draws inspiration from beer labels while Fairmount and Center's City's fonts consider the design of neighborhood landmarks like Eastern State Penitentiary and skyscrapers.
Fishtown looks at the section's "edgy, hip personality," and Main Line is reminiscent of the that area's English Gothic architecture.
Manayunk is a nod to the iconic Manayunk Bridge, and the designers said the North Philly font is inspired by "the rough and blighted neighborhoods located there." That font has since been deleted from the company's collection amid backlash online.
Old City's typography is historic; Rittenhouse's draws from the "elegant architecture" of the buildings on the square; and West Philly mimics the neighborhood's graffiti work.
A second collection of Philly-inspired fonts is set to be released in the spring.
