Type with Pride: A typographic project that celebrates the life of iconic artist Gilbert Baker

On March 31, 2017, Gilbert Baker – the creator of the iconic Rainbow Flag – sadly passed away. Mr Baker was both an LGBT+ activist and artist and was known for helping friends create banners for protests and marches.

Images courtesy of Ogilvy & Mather, NewFest and NYC Pride

Images courtesy of Ogilvy & Mather, NewFest and NYC Pride

To honour his memory, NewFest and NYC Pride partnered with Ogilvy & Mather’s design team and created a font inspired by the Rainbow Flag named Gilbert.

"We wanted to create something special that would not just honour Gilbert and his iconic Rainbow Flag but also give the LGBT+ community a fantastic tool to help them create their banners, posters and signs. People can now raise the Rainbow Flag with every letter they type. By literally embedding the Rainbow Flag into the font we made it possible for everyone around the world to type with pride."

Ogilvy & Mather partnered with Fontself to leverage cutting-edge colour font technologies and produce both a traditional font as well as a colourful typeface. "We are all driven by the same passion for self-expression and creativity. Today, we are releasing a preview version of the font, and we will iterate based on the feedback of the community. We will also share behind-the-scenes updates, so anyone interested in using the font or creating their version can learn more about colour fonts."

The Ogilvy & Mather are no strangers to typography and font creation; last year, they created Typevoice for the Webby Awards, the first online FontShop that allowed users to create their unique font using their voice.

The font Gilbert can be downloaded for free at www.typewithpride.com. You’ll also find free posters that can be downloaded and printed for rallies, protests and Pride events.

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