Culture

Fonts based on handwriting of the homeless (pictures)

See some of the fonts created as part of the Homeless Fonts project, which turns handwriting seen on homeless people's signs into fonts that can be used in branding and advertising.

Leslie Katz

Leslie Katz led a team that explored the intersection of tech and culture, plus all manner of awe-inspiring science, from space to AI and archaeology. When she's not smithing words, she's probably playing online word games, tending to her garden or referring to herself in the third person.

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Leslie Katz

Sept. 29, 2014 9:36 a.m. PT

1 of 9 Homeless Fonts

Loraine font

Barcelona-based Homeless Fonts turns homeless people's handwriting into fonts that can be sold to businesses for use in branding and advertising. The primary aim of the project: to bring dignity to homeless participants' lives and shine a spotlight on issues related to homelessness.

Loraine Elghobari, creator of the Loraine font, said the project has instilled her with pride, and given her something to call her own.

"Her handwriting has a beautiful rhythm, with clarity and friendliness," Bill Davis, global font product manager at typeface distributor Monotype, told Crave. Monotype recently started selling Homeless Fonts.

2 of 9 Homeless Fonts

Don't worry

The Loraine font, created from the handwriting of 60-year-old Loraine Elghobari. Once a nurse in her home country of England, she traveled to Spain as a tourist five years ago and ended up homeless after having her passport stolen and experiencing other misfortunes.

"I've got this font and it's mine," she told Crave. "It's something that I've done. It belongs to me."

3 of 9 Homeless Fonts

Guillermo font

The Guillermo font. On the streets of Barcelona, its creator uses old cardboard for writing and drawing when he can't find paper.

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Guillermo's writing

Some fonts, like the Guillermo font, are flowery, while others have a more straightforward quality.

"To write on a computer a letter with handwritten type is really a stunning feeling," said Ferran Busquets, director of the Arrels Foundation. "And the fact that that type is from someone that is usually 'invisible' to people gives it an extra value."

5 of 9 Homeless Fonts

Gemma font

All the Homeless Fonts are "wonderful and real," said Ferran Busquets, director of the Barcelona-based Arrels Foundation, which came up with the idea for Homeless Fonts with ad agency The Cyranos McCann.

But asked to pick a favorite, "I think I’d choose Gemma," he said. "I’m a father of three kids and her writing its quite tender and ideal for children's books."

6 of 9 Homeless Fonts

Francisco font

Most striking about the Homeless Fonts, said Ferran Busquets, director of the Barcelona-based Arrels Foundation, are "the human traces you can see in the type."

Francisco, whose handwriting inspired the thick and bold Francisco font pictured above, says living on the street "has taken away my vanity."

7 of 9 Homeless Fonts

Luis Serra font

Global typeface distributor Monotype has just started selling the Luis Serra font, as well as other fonts created from handwriting the homeless rely on to make signs.

"We're offering the five fonts that were originally created, and our intention is to work with Arrels to bring more to market," Bill Davis, global font product manager at typeface distributor Monotype, told Crave.

8 of 9 Homeless Fonts

Going digital

Graphic-design professionals lead typography workshops for Homeless Fonts participants, who write letters and phrases on paper with pens and brushes in varying thickness.

The writing is then scanned and made into fonts that can be used by businesses for branding and advertising.

Homeless Fonts range in price from 19 euros (about $24) for a personal license to 290 euros (about $368) for a professional license.

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Homeless Fonts faces

Some of the faces behind the fonts created through Homeless Fonts.

"All the participants of the Homeless Fonts project were homeless, and they know the importance of being seen like persons and not like bundles," said Ferran Busquets, director of the Arrels Foundation, which sponsored the project. "What we like most about this project is that people see there is a person behind each typeface."