On/Off National Type

Although every classification in the Latin script type is concerned with either a period, forms, or shapes of letterforms, and no category deals with the national feel of type, the absence of such a category does not exclude the existence of faces with emotional impact on viewers as well as their specific targeting capability. What is a national font? Are there any national fonts? Are there any fonts resembling a culture, a country, or a nation? The importance of having fonts resembling national feel, look and characteristics tends to be more adequate and urgent these days than it was in history. Behind the shapes and forms (Fig. 1) of a vast variety of different fonts, there must be some of them which not only prove to carry national features, but show the ability to be recognised by viewers as a label of a country, the origin of products and companies, or as communities with similar beliefs or interests. The power of faces' visage might be underestimated in the world of globalisation we are living in, and when strong marketing campaigns can rely on type with its ability to show characteristics of products, companies, or even governments.