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Your Typeface

This talk is about doing projects for fun, visual brand voices and about how we use the variable type technology in our daily work to create carefully crafted brand identities and typefaces.

Your Typeface is a variable typeface experiment and a collaboration between Overtone® and the creative coders at SetSnail. It allows you to design a typeface based on the proportions and emotions of your face. Look surprised, uptight, yawn, or smile, and let your face design its own typeface. This personal interaction with the typeface encourages you to stretch your facial expressions to extremes—it’s fun, and it might even keep you fit and young…



At Overtone®, type design is often a core part of the branding projects we work on. We’ve been following the rise of variable fonts, and continuously been discussing the raison d’être for this technology. While we’ve seen some practical and design advantages, we believe the full potential of this technology is still unfolding.

Your Typeface is our contribution to exploring what problems variable fonts can solve and how they can push the boundaries of design.

This talk will explore questions like:

  • Why invest time and resources in fun experiments when running a business?
  • Are variable typefaces just a design trend, or do they have real-world applications?
  • What are the “overtones” of a typeface?
  • Can typefaces really reflect emotions, and how does that shape brand identity?

Join this talk for reflections on how typography can go beyond aesthetics, becoming a key voice in conveying and enhancing brand personality.

Nicolaj Bak 2025
Speaker

Nicolaj Bak

Nicolaj Bak is a multidisciplinary designer and the founder of Overtone®, an award winning design studio specialising in brand, type, and digital design. With over 20 years of experience, Nicolaj has crafted brand identities, typefaces, and digital products for clients ranging from cultural institutions to large international corporations.

He designed and coded his first digital typeface on a Commodore VIC20 at the age of 13. Trained as a classical musician, he spent years of practice and performances before transitioning from an audible to a visual focus. Since then, he has been captivated by the power of typography and type design.

At Overtone®, the team is small but mighty, focused on delivering carefully crafted strategic design solutions in close collaboration with clients and creating transformative identities that inspire.