Finn O’Neill This variable font concept explores the role of type within the visual journey, which takes place within the parallel journey ideologies of marginalized voices must undergo to gain acknowledgement.
Drawing on insights from Dr Hannah McGinley, a member of the Irish Traveller community. Dr McGinley emphasized the persistent challenge of gaining societal recognition in that to be recognized, ideas must become palatable to the masses, which, in turn, compromises the identity of the idea. Dr McGinley’s call to “unlearn standardized cultures,” I find resonates within design, a field often shaped by eurocentric and hegemonic values. The classification of Indigenous design as “craft” exemplifies this marginalisation, perpetuating a hierarchy that dismisses typically non-Western design practices unless they conform to established norms.
The project interrogates typographic design’s historical and contemporary implications as a visual articulation of ideas. Drawing on Katie Salen Tekinbas’s Surrogate Multiplicities, which argues that prioritising clarity and functionality inadvertently enforces standardisation, rendering non-conforming voices invisible. This standardisation parallels cultural commodification, as discussed by Clare Bell and Heather Griffin in their work titled A Critical Conversation, and additionally, it is seen in the market-driven appropriation of feminism for commerce. Taking these topics away from their original voices to reshape them in a “palatable” view.
The creation of “Listen”, a variable font that visually articulates a timeline of authority, recognizing the journey taken from handmade imperfect protest signs of laypeople who need change protesting on the streets transitioning to the authority of consistent serif typeface published to be a bill after rigorous iterations and compromise to attempt to appease all sides.
Listen embodies typographic styles found within my own Irish culture; the project underlies my own critiques of post-independence failures, specifically the lack of time and respect given to the masses. Despite the ideals fought for by the same families, our internal hierarchies persist. This typographic exploration invites reflection on how design holds our own internal hierarchies that can hinder the field’s full value. I believe design can continue to be used as a critical tool to foster empowerment of a polyphonic society of voices, but to do that, it is important to critically assess our own standardized culture. By critically analysing best practices, the project underscores the need for designers to dismantle their biases and further embrace unique design identities.