Typefaces inspired by classic books hide literature in every download

Around the world, people have more time at home in the midst of the coronavirus pandemic, and many of them are probably choosing to pick up a book. Thanks to a new initiative from the Reading Association of the Philippines, many of them might now choose to curl up with a classic novel.

A series of display and text fonts from BBDO Guerrero takes inspiration from books like Kafka’s “The Metamorphosis,” with letters that sprout cockroach antennae and spindly, segmented legs. Steampunk gears and fountain pen nibs adorn a typeface for H.G. Wells’ sci-fi story “The Time Machine,” and delicate botanicals adorn the characters of Frances Hodgson Burneet's "The Secret Garden."

Unlike most typefaces, which utilize a standardized “quick brown fox”-type sentence that contains all 26 letters of the English alphabet, the previews are excerpts of the books in question.

And inside every download of each typeface is hidden both an ebook and audiobook copy of the novel, so viewers can become readers right away. “We created these typefaces as a way to feature books in a new, non-intrusive manner—inspired by people just like myself who spend way too much time looking for free fonts online, and not enough getting into the classics,” said font creator and BBDO Guerrero Creative Director Michelle Edu in a statement.