Graffiti Font Design

[Cristhian Cinq-Mars]

Althoughwe had never heard of this designer, all of us were super excited about the coming workshop. We just knew he was Swiss and that was good enough for us. In the late 1980s, the majority of the University of the Arts graphic design professors were graduates of the Basel School of Design in Switzerland. This school was a champion of The International Style, a design philosophy that originated in Switzerland in the mid 20th century. It is the basis of modern corporate graphic design in the U.S. and western Europe. High value is placed on simplicity, legibility and functionality within a rigid grid compositional structure. We owe Futura, Helvetica and Univers to Swiss typeface designers influenced by this style.

Wolfgang Weingart, an instructor at Basel, was visiting the juniors for a week to show us how to do typography. He is considered the father of New Wave Typogaphy which emerged in the 1970s as a postmodern reaction promoting typography as playful, expressive and experimental. The results are usually a more kinetic and intuitive use of type (see examples below) which, in some cases, pushed the boundaries of legibility and comprehension. Countless well-known designers were influenced by him such as April Greiman, Dan Friedman and Neville Brody. Although what I remember most about Mr. Weingart was his disheveled conservative look, I learned a great deal from him. (I admit that I did not understand the gravity of his presence at that time. In my ignorance, I had a hard time listening to someone whose name is pronounced Volfgong but I made the best of it. LOL)

But this was not where my love for type was first inspired. It started in kindergarten where I practiced handwriting everyday. But typography leapt off the page when I stared at 1970s album covers and the colorful vibrant graffiti art on walls in Philadelphia.

Around this same time, graffiti expanded from writing (tagging) to art (burners). Did you know that the earliest American graffiti writing was birthed in Philadelphia in the 1960s and eventually showed up in New York City? The newly emerging Hip-Hop culture in the 1980s was the voice of my generation with the four creative pillars holding it together: Emceeing (rapping), Djing, Breakdancing and Graffiti. (Some argue the 5th pillar is fashion). In my middle school years, I slowly transitioned from drawing out of comic books to illustrating my own graffiti in notebooks. I focusing on developing my wildstyle technique (see image at top of the article) adding urban cartoon-like characters and additional graphics (arrows, bubbles, wall cracks, etc.) for emphasis and creativity. Although I did not do it, real graf artists placed their full multi-colored pieces in strategic locations. In Philly, one could find them on the side of the buildings where commuters could see them while commuting on the Elevated train. Once I entered high school in the early 1980s, my graffiti style leapt from my notebooks to hats and tees. When I give an airbrush set as a gift, my art went to another level.

Although I created tees and hats for many people, above are the only two documented airbrushed pieces I have. In the mid 1980s, popular cartoon characters were showing up in graf pieces in subversive ways so I created the Slick Mick tee. As post modern design was becoming the dominant philosophy and visual expression in pop culture, breaking aesthetic rules, eclectic typography and bold flat shapes became the norm. Swatch Watch benefitted from this trend is this aggressively consumer decade by creating disposable timepieces (above) with unique colorful post modern watch face designs extremely popular among teens and young adults. Although I never owned one, I associated myself with the craze by airbrushing my own Swatch sweatshirt (above). Guess where this watchmaker originated? Switzerland.

But, back then, graffiti was not viewed as art. It was associated with all things negative: gang activity, urban decay, people of color and hip hop culture. It was labeled vandalism and linked to urban crime (Broken Window Theory). Major U.S. cities made it their business to paint over as many graffiti pieces as possible. Although there is truth to some of these claims, no one ever thought to validate the sheer illustrative natural talent coming out of these artists. Many of the artists were African American, Puerto Rican and White kids from poor and working class families who honed their skills breathing the essence of their neighborhoods. This is why I call it folk art. Graffiti art was subversive in that it did not ask permission and it screamed to a city that routinely ignored its poor and working class residents, especially if they were black and brown.

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The Sprite Graffiti font is the first Bulgarian graffiti typeface in cyrillic created for the 24th of May (Bulgarian national holiday celebrating the alphabet) as part of our campaign for Sprite Graffiti Fest 2014.

Our challenge was to keep the graffiti style and still have legible letters. We strived for a functional font that would not only be useful for the graffiti community, but also for a wider audience. This way, apart from promoting graffiti we also help build a pool of more and diverse cyrillic typefaces. The cyrillic font has grown of immerse popularity and usage throughout various mediums, like TV, magazine, and web. The beautiful Sprite tipografia is one of many amazing display fonts at the Fontfabric.

If you're looking for classic graffiti font styles, this is the one for you. You can use this dope graffiti typeface for any project, from logos to any creative design. No doubt, this is one of the best graffiti letters typefaces from Envato Elements.

3D graffiti fonts are a great way to make your designs pop! This terrific font was inspired by graffiti style, and you can use it for music posters, flyers, logos, or anything you've got in mind. Graffiti number fonts are included with this font!

If you need different graffiti fonts, why don't you try these graffiti drip letters? This brush font features a scratch effect that makes it look bold and natural. This fabulous font is accessible in the Adobe suite (Illustrator, Photoshop, and InDesign), and it even works in MS Word.

This graffiti script font is a great example of different graffiti fonts. This eye-catching graffiti brush font features natural, rough brush strokes. It also includes a set of 22 swashes and four paint splatters.

Check out this cool 3D graffiti font and take advantage of its versatility. The stunning font includes uppercase and lowercase characters, numbers, and punctuation signs. This can work as a cool graffiti number font as well.

Different graffiti fonts are really effective ways to catch people's attention. Ruction is one of those cool graffiti fonts inspired by underground music album covers. This amazing font supports more than ten languages and comes with graphic elements to use in Illustrator.

This one is a really different graffiti font, inspired by unique graffiti art. Use it for your creative projects and take advantage of the special characters and signs included. You can also use it as a graffiti number font.

Add instant swag to your designs with the epic Mingser font. This typeface features a cool calligraphic style with a fluid script design. Use it to add a bit of texture to your work, or brand your creative projects with this one-of-a-kind style.

Create a bit of mischief with this edgy graffiti font. A handcrafted font with roughened brush strokes, this typeface features two brush-style fonts with letters, numbers, and multilingual support. Download it today to get access to 16 bonus swashes for epic and creative designs.

Get a little trippy with the fun Acids font. Similar in style to round graffiti lettering, this dope font features fun, chunky letters that work well with OpenType. Add a funky energy to your work with this typeface full of character.

Get into gear with this bold graffiti font. Featuring a grungy handwritten style, this font is perfect for any poster, album cover, or apparel design. Included in this download is a single sans-serif font file that can be used with a variety of design applications.

One hallmark of great graffiti design is that chaotic style of messy hand lettering. And the Lam font features long, skinny letters with an edgy, scratchy aesthetic. Use this font for posters and more, and download two font files to use with a variety of applications.

Are you searching for graffiti drip letters? This terrific graffiti typeface is what you need. This font includes all the numbers and punctuation signs, so you can create really fantastic projects with it.

This cool graffiti font style includes uppercase characters, punctuation, swashes, and stylistic ligature characters to give you loads of variety when creating your text. We recommend this awesome graffiti text for street fashion magazines and posters.

Different graffiti fonts work well with different projects. Make sure you choose the right font for your own project when you choose Across The Line Street Art Font. The font is perfect for logos, branding, titles, covers, and so much more.

Zieder Danger Handwriting Graffiti is one of the best graffiti letters typefaces you can find at Envato Elements. Zieder works well for a number of projects, from graffiti posters to album covers, posters, flyers, and more.

Ready to try a cool graffiti font style? Check out the stunning Square Spray Street Art Graffiti Font. This terrific font includes uppercase characters, numbers, punctuation, and multilingual characters.

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