New Blood Entry — Hiding in Plain Type
Award: Yellow Pencil
Google Fonts & The Typographic Circle / 2024
Today, microplastics can be found in our food, drinks, and air. On average, people unknowingly consume nearly 250 grams of microplastics each year. Sometimes microplastics can be so small they are practically invisible to the naked eye.
In order to help tackle this issue, we need to start raising awareness. Hiding in plain type is a typographically led campaign that uses a Google variable typeface to highlight the widespread presence of microplastics in our day-to-day lives and uses poetry to help raise awareness.
What did the judges have to say?
Hiding in Plain Sight married typography, poetry and an environmental cause in a simple, elegant and powerful way. A few described it as quiet but powerful. The idea was also unique. While a lot of other entries manipulated type or redacted it, this entry did something different by bringing out what already exists in the type form. While it was not perfect, a lot was forgiven because of the idea and the beautiful way it was executed
Guyang Chenware, Creative Director, Futerra
Hiding in Plain Type: A timeless and spot on idea with a brilliant and effortless execution.
Nada Hesham, Founder & Creative Director, 40MUSTAQEL
The project captures our interest right from its title: "Hiding in Plain Type." This intelligent micro-scale solution emphasizes one of the most pressing issues of our time: microplastics. By highlighting a small section of the typography in synthetic colors, the campaign uses variable type to underscore the pervasive presence of microplastics in our daily lives. The limited visibility of other parts of the typography accentuates the micro elements, representing the omnipresence of microplastics. A Google takeover, altering the Google Search logo in the same visual style, marks the campaign's launch. The use of poetry further amplifies awareness.
Gustavo Greco, Owner, Greco Design
Taken from recording - 'Most importantly, we wanted to ensure that all yellow pencils tick all the boxes of the brief, and this entry did. It used a strong typographic solkution combined with poetry and the environmental message communicated well. The typographic solution created a unique, fresh result that seems quite simple but is actually quite hard to create, and has a strong impact in this campaign. A really successful end result that we believe deserves a yellow pencil.
Eleni Beveratou, Creative Director, Dalton Maag