When most people think type and branding, they think logotype and a couple of corporate typefaces. But designers taking this simplistic approach are robbing themselves of an opportunity to be strategic from business, utilitarian, and design perspectives. It's crucial to understand type choice in the language our clients and employers speak most fluently — money! To that end, this webinar will address corporate typefaces from a budgetary standpoint, explaining licensing for print and web, and discussing when a custom typeface may actually be a cost-effective option. Of course, typeface selection is about more than just money. Anticipating a brand's actual needs — are acronyms and numbers used frequently in body copy? Is collateral made available in multiple languages? — can help one select type families with a character set that accommodates all uses. Beyond the utilitarian, there is design to consider. The webinar will close with a discussion of tone for segmented audiences, and ways to add branded flare to an out-of-the-box typeface, including case, bullets and ornaments, and rules.

Attendees will leave the webinar understanding the importance of weighting costs and utility as heavily as they do aesthetics when choosing corporate typefaces for employers and/or clients. They will also leave with ideas for typographic details that can help "brand" their typesetting.

Presented by Leila Singleton

About Leila Singleton
Leila is an independent, hands-on art and creative director in Vancouver, BC. She graduated from the Savannah College of Art & Design (SCAD) in 2003, earning a Bachelor of Fine Arts with summa cum laude honors and SCAD's Outstanding Achievement in Graphic Design Award. She began her two-decade career in Colorado as an ad agency art director, working with the Colorado Tourism Office, Wells Fargo, Wyoming Department of Health, and Wyoming Office of Tourism. After moving to San Francisco she built a DMO’s in-house design division, then went solo, working with clients at the University of California, Berkeley; Stern Grove Festival Association; and Delve Fonts, among others. In 2016 Career Contessa, a Forbes Top 5 career website, published a feature on her independent practice. Leila's work has appeared in over 30 publications, and in places such as Times Square and Kharkov, Ukraine. She has a deep interest in letterforms: her more than 60 honors include Hiiibrand's Hiii Typography Bronze Award, three Indigo Design Award Silver honors for typography and lettering, and Merit in the Graphis Type 4: Type in Use competition. Her poster art was exhibited at TypeCon 2010, and she's adjudicated the Society of Typographic Aficionados Catalyst Award, volunteered as a critique and communications lead for TypeThursday, and taught typography at InFocus Film School, where she leads the Graphic + Digital Design program. In her spare time Leila judges advertising and design competitions (more than a dozen and counting) and reviews design portfolios. She occasionally sleeps.