![]() The final space, “Unity,” was the further-refined outcome of this process. Once fixed and agreed, we then populated this framework with a number of clear visual treatments and flair informed by our research, and shared these in workshop sessions with the team at Coca-Cola. We assembled these and selected the most common visual elements to form the core structure of the typeface, which we call the ‘spine’ of the font giving it its language of proportions, line weight, curve and junctions. We immersed ourselves in the archive at Coca-Cola’s headquarters, spending days investigating thousands of heritage items in order to be able to piece together a tangible Coca-Cola typographic reference toolbox, one formed of shapes, quirks, repeated motifs and structures. Myself and the Brody Associates team, including senior type designer Luke Prowse together with Phil Rodgers, Chris Nott, Jack Llewellyn, Josh Saunders and Joe Dick, maintained a constant state of open communication with the Coke team in Atlanta, including many on-the-ground visits and workshops, making it a live project and increasing the opportunity for dynamism. ![]() Coke has such distinctive branding assets, what influenced the design of this Unity typeface? The Coca-Cola company and product has become globally renowned for specific key elements-the color red, the script font, the bottle shape-but had never in over 130 years owned a proprietary font. An ownable and controllable typeface with a suite of styles and weights helped counter this and delivers greater creative opportunities and integration of messaging. It also meant that both creative and quality control in its numerous territories was increasingly challenging. The company had been using a great font, but one which is now used by so many companies that it has become ubiquitous and no longer delivers the market stand-out that Coca-Cola desired. It also needed to be ownable and recognizable, and be seen as authentically Coca-Cola by relating design qualities that were felt to be part of the brand and story. This flexibility would allow the Coca-Cola company to navigate future landscapes and successfully anticipate technological shifts, and at the same time be able to build a cohesive and coherent typographic language and system across all touch-points. It needed to be something that was highly scalable, from text on a mobile screen to display size on a hoarding, meaning that it had to combine a high level of legibility and function at a small size, and have enough personality and interest at a large size. ![]() The process was highly collaborative, and the Coca-Cola Global Design team, headed by James Sommerville, primarily asked us to deliver a contemporary typeface which operated successfully across both a current and future suite of platforms, from digital to mobile and from print to product and environment. What were you asked to achieve with this new Coca Cola font? And how’d you go about finding the best solution? A typeface for a company as world renown as Coca Cola is not just any old typeface. In terms of functionality, through the development of a text and display version, the font is designed to both operate successfully at a small text size, and to achieve personality and impact at large usage. The typeface is designed to be open, with a large x-height, and has a wide form, extended to relate this sense of Modern Americana. Other influences have played a major role in the development of TCCC Unity, in particular, the Americana of the 1930s and ’50s, with its typography of speed, construction and modernity, combined with a vernacular influence. ![]() The typeface has been produced in a number of weights and styles to ensure a high level of flexibility and voice in application, and allows the company to control and evolve its visual language. The Endless Variations of the Coca Cola Font But his design has long been evolving along with his expertise as a go-to designer and I got the scoop behind the upgrade of the Coca Cola font then and am looking back on its debut now that its first anniversary year is here. Close to a year ago Neville Brody announced “TCCC Unity: The New Typeface for Coca-Cola.” It seemed incredible that Brody, once the maestro behind The Faceand Fuse magazines and the emblematic types of the late 80s and early 90s was creating type for one of the world’s most emblematic corporations (and products).
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