Eco-Inspired Fonts, and Turning Scallop Shell Waste into Innovative Materials

Neat bio-design inspiration!

DESIGN

Fonts Inspired by Plants, Nature, and Climate

I’m not really into icon fonts. Maybe it’s just an aversion from childhood, flipping through glyph books for fonts you could install from CD-ROMs as a kid. But I do love a good inspired font with a compelling backstory behind its creation. These are some fun fonts I’ve found that scratch that intentionally-designed creative itch for bio-design elements without being too on the nose. I love being able to give my clients a little nerdy description about the font that somehow relates in to nature and makes it feel more important than just ‘Hey, this font is cool and nice and works well, trust me okay?’.

First up is Greenhouse Type created by Anna Sing. This collection of fonts was inspired during quarantine, surrounded by houseplants.

My favourites from Greenhouse Type are “Orkyd” and “Aureum”. From the website, Sing writes that “ORKYD is an experimental display typeface inspired by the mystique of the blooming orchid plant and the orchid mania of the 90, the must-have houseplant of the 90s. Like the flower, ORYKD is a bold typeface perfect as a center piece.”

ORYKD Sample.

For something less punchy, and maybe a bit more client-friendly, I’m obsessed with Aureum.

“Aureum is a serif typeface that explores houseplants’ Victorian origins and references the common beginner houseplant pathos through its serifs and vine-like forms.”

Aureum in use on Greenhouse Type’s website samples.

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I also want to throw out a notable mention to Mānuka by Klim Foundry. Klim has incredible historical write-ups behind their type and I geek out reading them every time when I’m trying to find a font to match to a client. I’ve used Mānuka on a client project before, and feel very fondly about it. It was a neat surprise to find such a beautiful font with an environmentally-inspired backstory.

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The final related font is a font inspired by Climate Crisis and the vanishing arctic ice. Some of you might be familiar with this one already, but it felt like a mistake to leave it off this little rabbit-hole font dive.

The font is free, and variable: you can pick specific years for specific amounts of ice melts, or use its flexible scale to showcase the difference. It’s honestly pretty neat. And scientifically accurate (although I think we all hope it won’t be prophetic). Check it out and give it a play if you haven’t yet–it’s quite a lot of fun.

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SUSTAINABILITY

Recycling Scallop Shells into Helmets for Fishermen in Hokkaido

Waste from scallop and other seafood shells is a growing concern in certain prefectures of Japan. In Hokkaido, there is over 40,000 tons of shell waste annually. The scallop shells are an environmental hazard and can contaminate the soil if improperly disposed of. TBWA\HAKUHODO has found a way of re-imagining the calcium carbonate that composes the shells into a new material which they have designed into protective helmets for the fishermen. They are calling the material “Shellstic” and the helmets are 30% stronger than conventionally designed helmets with their rigged design and calcium carbonate re-enforcement. With an increase of extreme weather events in Japan, the helmets are also being used as hardhats in disaster prevention gear.

Shells that have protected themselves from external enemies can now be used to protect human lives. We hope this project will spread throughout society as a new form of environmental conservation that solves the problem of ocean waste and protects the fishing industry.

- Masatoshi Usami, Creative Director at TBWA\Hakuhodo

Often conversations around materials re-use and recycling are discussed globally and are not geolocated to specific areas for specific uses in specific communities. But this localized form of recycling and re-use I think is a crucial one for our futures. To be more resilient, communities all over are going to have to work together to deal with any number of waste, recycling, and environmental challenges, and it’s very refreshing and hopeful to see a community in Japan work to internally recycle and reduce hazardous waste in their local area.

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I need some kind of sign-off, but that’s all I got this week folks! Some other ideas I’ve been thinking about are histories of pigments and colours, algae inks, and the legal discussions behind trees, rivers, and other pieces of nature owning themselves. I’m also collecting some lichens to try and make some dye, so I’ll keep everyone posted on that. :) (One day I’m absolutely going to try seaweed too). Maybe I can aim for a monthly ink exploration.

As a small housekeeping update: I did divide this Substack into 2 little tabs now: one is for Green Design resources/cool things, and one is a bit for my own creative ramblings and explorations as I play with watercolor, inks, and work through burnout. If you wish to only be subscribed to one side or the other, you can choose–so check it out if you want to modify your subscription at all! Automatically both sides of the newsletter will be sent to everyone.

Take care,

Emma

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If you enjoyed this and aren’t subscribed to this Substack, consider subscribing! And please, if you feel like chatting, feel free to leave a comment or reply to this email! I love talking with everyone. Substack has been a really positive experience so far (especially in contrast to Instagram which I struggle with), and I am having a grand time building this little community.

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Reading: Babel by R.F. Kuang (still–waiting for my partner to catch up and read it with me lol).

Watching: A bunch of Episode 1’s of this season’s airing anime. WHEW some real highs and some real lows haha. The weirdest one so far is an anime about an android JPOP idol competition where robots start killing people.

Listening: The Completely Arbortarary Podcast! Thank you so much to Ava to recommending it to me after the last newsletter! I love biology podcasts and this one’s all about trees. Amazing!