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November 20, 2024

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Our Design Team's Favourite Type Foundries Right Now

Typography permeates every aspect of our daily lives. From the street signs that guide us through cities to the websites we navigate online, typography plays a fundamental role in communicating information effectively.

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As graphic designers, our role involves meticulously navigating the vast array of typographic choices available to us, ensuring we find the correct solution for each project. While this process can sometimes be tedious, having a reliable arsenal of trusted type foundries, companies that design or distribute typefaces, greatly streamlines our workflow and saves valuable time.

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These are our design team’s favourite foundries right now:

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Nick, Lead Graphic Designer

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Favourite Foundry right now: Ultratypes, Spain

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Barcelona based Ultratypes is a small, independent type foundry. Founded in 2013, the foundry’s goal has been to share and publish typefaces designed by friends without having to go through big distributors.

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Ultratypes are my pick for one simple reason – i’m desperate to find a project where I can use their typefaces UT Barrel and UT Nickel. The foundry has a pretty lean catalogue, placing focus on display typefaces and typographic experimentation, making Ultratypes a great place to find something special that will be sure to stand out.

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Favourite Ultratypes typeface right now: UT Nickel

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UT Nickel is a geometric script typeface with a beautiful angularity and rhythm. I'm drawn to typographic contrasts, and the juxtaposition of constructing a wholly angular typeface within a space traditionally characterised by smooth curves and fluid motion ticks all the boxes for me.

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Charles, Senior Graphic Designer

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Favourite Foundry right now: Dinamo, Germany

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My favourite foundry at the moment (and, admittedly, for a considerable while now) is Dinamo, for the simple reason that they're consistently creating and releasing some of the best designed typefaces out there. They're really a great go-to for well-built typefaces which will get the job done — and I really do appreciate when a foundry also makes some weird stuff; I'm a fan of weird stuff. In Dinamo's case, their typeface Galapagos is a lot of fun. Years later, I'm still hoping to find a project where I can use it.

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Favourite typeface right now: ABC Diatype

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ABC Diatype is a gorgeous grotesque sans-serif which has an insane amount of families – seven to be exact – ranging from Compressed all the way to Expanded, with even Semi-Mono and Mono versions. I have a very serious weakness for Monospace typefaces, and if there's a Mono that's part of a wider sans family, then I'm completely won over.

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Simon, Graphic Designer

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Favourite Foundry right now: A2 Type, UK

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Established in 2011, A2 Type is a UK-based online foundry and type design consultancy. Their focus lies in creating contemporary typefaces, offering a diverse range of workhorse typefaces alongside expressive display typefaces brimming with character. A2 demonstrates a refreshingly bold approach that transcends the boundaries of a single typeface class.

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Favourite A2 Type typeface right now: Beckett

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Beckett is a geometric ultra-condensed typeface that strikes a pleasing balance between integrating stylistic elements and maintaining legibility.

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I'm particularly fond of robust condensed typefaces with character, reminiscent of the wood type era. Their versatility and visual presence when used in display capacities make them a go-to choice for me.

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Amy, Junior Graphic Designer

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Favourite Foundry right now: Displaay

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Displaay is a Prague-based, independent type foundry established in 2014. They focus on retail and custom typefaces with the aim of developing distinctive typefaces that are missing on the market. They’re my favourite foundry at the moment because, while I’m generally tempted to go for a more experimental and perhaps less known foundry, it’s important to our work to have solid, well-built typefaces from a foundry that is experienced, thorough and pays as much attention to the details as we will. Additionally, Displaay’s typefaces have that playful spark and an eye-catching flare when building even a seemingly boring typeface.

They say “Specific moments of imperfection and spontaneous irregularities inspire our ethos,” which sits really well with what I believe design should be about. ‍

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Favourite typeface right now: Jokker

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Jokker is a fun and playful sans serif typeface with an elevated x-height, diagonal and tight terminals and shorter descenders and ascenders to make the lines of text more compact. I do have a particular affinity for geometric typefaces and the subtle details that are noticeable in several glyphs in Jokker (which could be inktraps, smiles or even haunting faces) make it an interesting typeface and considered typeface.

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Founder Story: Stelios

KENSHŌ AGENCY — A FOUNDER STORY

Kenshō Agency wasn’t built just to make better brands.

We kept seeing potential clients come to us, both small and large, with the same issue.

They’d invested real money into branding, and were getting very little back from it. Not because the work was bad, but because it had no real connection to how the business actually ran, its values, or where it was trying to go.

Strategy sat in one place. Execution in another. And the brand ended up somewhere in between, looking right, but not doing much.

We’d both seen this play out repeatedly. Just from different sides of it.

That’s where Kenshō Agency started.

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STELIOS' FOUNDER STORY

Stelios grew up around design.

Aesthetics, craft, visual storytelling. That was always there.

But his career took him into operations, finance, and risk, working at director level in environments where decisions had real consequences and there wasn’t room for guesswork.

That changes how you see things.

Brands stop being about visuals, and start becoming about clarity. About trust. About giving people a way to make decisions with confidence.

When Stelios came back to design, he didn’t leave that behind.

He brought it into the work.

So creative decisions aren’t treated as subjective. They’re treated as business decisions. The kind that need to hold up under pressure, not just in a presentation.

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WHY KENSHŌ AGENCY EXISTS  

Most branding doesn’t fail because of a lack of creativity, it fails because it’s built in isolation.  

The people shaping the brand aren’t always close to the business. And the people running the business aren’t always working from a clear brand.  

So things drift.  

Messaging becomes inconsistent. Decisions take longer. Teams pull in different directions. And money gets spent without real return.  

Kenshō Agency exists to fix that.  

We work across four areas, culture, business processes, narrative, and visual expression, because that’s where brand actually lives.  

Not in a deck.  

In how a business communicates, makes decisions, and shows up every day.  

When those things are aligned, things start to move. 

Decisions get clearer. Execution gets faster. And the brand starts contributing commercially, not just visually.  

That’s the role Kenshō Agency plays.  

Not just to create brands that look right.  

But to build brands that work.

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News

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Founder Story: James

Kenshō Agency — A founder storyKenshō

Agency wasn’t built just to make better brands.

We kept seeing potential clients come to us, both small and large, with the same issue.

Strategy sat in one place. Execution in another. And the brand ended up somewhere in between, looking right, but not doing much.

We’d both seen this play out repeatedly. Just from different sides of it.

That’s where Kenshō Agency started.

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James’ founder Story

Environments with targets, complexity, and constant pressure to deliver.

You learn quickly in places like that.

Good ideas aren’t enough.

What matters is execution. Consistency. Alignment. Getting people, channels, and decisions moving in the same direction, even when things aren’t simple.

James understands how marketing works from the inside. Not how it’s presented, but how it operates day to day inside a business.

He focuses on closing the gap between what a brand is supposed to be, and what actually gets delivered in the market.

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WHY KENSHŌ AGENCY EXISTS Why Kenshō Agency exists  

Most branding doesn’t fail because of a lack of creativity, it fails because it’s built in isolation.  

The people shaping the brand aren’t always close to the business. And the people running the business aren’t always working from a clear brand.  

So things drift.  

Messaging becomes inconsistent. Decisions take longer. Teams pull in different directions. And money gets spent without real return.  

Kenshō Agency exists to fix that.  

We work across four areas, culture, business processes, narrative, and visual expression, because that’s where brand actually lives.  

Not in a deck.  

In how a business communicates, makes decisions, and shows up every day.  

When those things are aligned, things start to move.  

Decisions get clearer. Execution gets faster. And the brand starts contributing commercially, not just visually.  

That’s the role Kenshō Agency plays.  

Not just to create brands that look right.  

But to build brands that work.

‍

News

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Kenshō Agency & Ads.gi Joins Forces with the Capurro Group

INTRO

After several years of collaboration, we’re thrilled to announce that the Capurro Group has acquired a majority stake in Kenshō Agency & Ads.gi, marking the beginning of a strategic partnership that will propel us to new heights.With over 150 years of business expertise, the Capurro Group brings an extensive network and deep industry knowledge, enabling Kenshō Agency to operate on a more global scale.

This partnership strengthens our ability to serve our clients, unlocking new opportunities, markets, and strategic connections that will enhance the value we deliver to them.

Having worked together for nearly a decade, this move is a natural evolution of our shared vision. With Capurro Group's backing, Kenshō Agency is poised for unprecedented growth while continuing to innovate and push boundaries.

We’re incredibly excited for this next chapter and the possibilities it brings, not just for us but for our clients, partners, and the industries we serve.

Stay tuned for what’s next!

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