The ABC has revealed it spent $32,750 on creating its own font. The question of the cost of the OneABC typeface was first raised in Senate estimates in May to new managing director Michelle Guthrie by then-new Liberal Senator James Paterson.
Guthrie estimated the cost to be less than $50,000, but the true cost had not yet been revealed. The ABC has released the response to the question this week, and the cost associated with the design and development of the OneABC font was $32,750, excluding GST.
Lofgren describes the font as “uniquely Australian” with a “connection to the land with a coastal and outback feel”:
“It shows influences of a number of other sans serif treatments, such as humanist and grotesque, a nod to the eclectic melting pot of modern Australia. Individual characters also have some quirky details which are slightly larrikin but always purposeful.”
Earlier this month, the ABC’s digital network director, the person behind the typeface decision, Angela Clark, left the ABC to pursue opportunities in the commercial sector.
this is news?
If Crikey did any research or took an interest in the design behind these types of projects they’d realise that is this not expensive for the design and build of a comprehensive typeface system for use across multiple channels. This reaction though is why Australia has such as shallow history in terms of typeface design. Try and find an Australian type foundry that is creating and selling typefaces. Now look at any other country. Luckily there are highly skilled typeface designer starting to bubble up through Australian Universities but this sort of knee-jerk reporting is just the sort of thing that will take potential jobs away from these emerging home-grown talents and diminish Australia’s already slim presence on the world’s stage.