Vocal Type Co.

Inspired by the lack of diversity in the design industry, Vocal is type design company that works to highlight the history and culture of minority groups.

07/17/2025

Hey everyone, I'm back with more on the all new VTC Martin font family. This time we're diving into the discovering and development of the punctuation marks—from how we discovered them to how we adapted them for the font family. Hope you enjoy the read, and more to come!

07/08/2025

Hi all! I'm back with more details behind the all new VTC Martin. When studying the original references for VTC Martin— specifically wood type from Hamilton and handmade protest signs— we noticed something unusual: the round characters had no overshoots. Their tops and bottoms were completely flat, likely due to the limitations of lettepress printing.

In most typefaces, round letters like 'O' or 'C' extend slightly above and below flat letters like 'H' or 'E' to appear visually the same height.
These extensions are called overshoots, and without them, round letters can look smaller.

For the updated VTC Martin, we chose to reintroduce overshoots—but with care. Rather than rounding the tops and bottoms, we kept them flat, just like the originals. The result is something in between a circle and a square. It's a small detail, but one that gives VTC Martin its distinct character.

Thanks to everyone who's bought their copy of VTC Martin so far. We truly appreciate it.

More to come!

07/02/2025

Hey everyone! The new VTC Martin font family is here with some fascinating discoveries.

The biggest improvement? We’ve optically matched the weight of lowercase and uppercase letters. Previously, the lowercase was much lighter, making it tricky to use beyond all-caps titles.

But here’s where it gets interesting: while researching the 1970 Hamilton Wood Type specimen, we noticed the lowercase ‘n’ had a thinner right stroke than left. The ‘u’ was perfectly even. Printing accident? Nope—we found this same quirk across multiple letters in earlier specimens.
We’ve created two complete lowercase sets: one “corrected” and one embracing those beautiful uneven strokes.

On another note, we discovered what looks like design theft. American Wood Type Manufacturing Co. released “Gothic No. 6243 Class M”—nearly identical uppercase to Hamilton’s “Plain Gothic No. 6243 Class L,” but with completely redesigned lowercase letters. Classic move in the wild west of 19th-century type design.

Anyways, stay tuned for more on the all new VTC Martin. Thanks for your support!

06/26/2025

Hey everyone, I'm back with more on VTC Martin. It's been a long road, but it was totally worth it. And thanks to everyone who's already purchased the new and expanded VTC Martin.

While VTC Martin is primarily based on the protest signs carried during Dr. King's memorial on April 4, 1968, many of the missing characters specifically all lowercase letters and numerals— were filled in thanks to a chance discovery: a 1970 Hamilton Wood Type catalog.

Inside was the original type specimen for "Plain Gothic No. 6243 Class L," which we now know as
VTC Martin. With the help of Wood type historian David Shields, we learned so much about wood and the history of Plain Gothic No. 6243 which dates back to 1906. Compared to the iconic "I AM A MAN" signs, the typeface nwas a tad lighter, but otherwise very similar. From here, we used nearly all of the gothic typefaces in the catalog as references for the lighter weights of VTC Martin.

There's much more to come on how we discovered everything from punctuation and currency to symbols and alternates.

Thanks for reading!

06/19/2025

After 9 years, what started as my first typeface in 2016 has grown into a complete family—the VTC Martin font family.

Inspired by the “I AM A MAN” signs of the Memphis Sanitation Strike of 1968 and Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.’s final campaign, VTC Martin is a non-violent font family that continues to call for dignity and justice.

I’ve loved seeing how this community has put VTC Martin to use over the years—from street murals and brand identities to tattoos and handmade works of art, and so much more. I’m excited to see what you all do next with the VTC Martin font family.

Thank you to everyone who’s been part of this journey.

VTC Martin is available now.

06/18/2025

After 9 long years I am proud to announce that a new VTC Martin is coming. It's wild to think that VTC Martin was first released in 2016, just a little over a year after I graduated from university. VTC Martin was not only the first typeface released through Vocal Type, but also the first working typeface I ever made.
And now, nearly a decade later, I'm proud to release this new iteration of VTC Martin: with extended weights, with italics, with more language support, and a much larger story,
Thank you so much to all of you who've been a part of this incredible journey.
VTC Martin, coming this Juneteenth.

03/11/2025

Honored to be nominated for the inaugural . Presented by the , The Curious 100 honors visionary leaders and creative minds using curiosity to tackle today's most pressing challenges-from climate change to racial justice. Spanning diverse disciplines, the honorees showcase the power of curiosity across ten categories, including Builders, Makers, Reformers, and Storytellers, and more.

Excited to be a part of this community of curious problem-solvers driving meaningful change. See the full list at my link in bio.

01/01/2025

Thank you. Thank you for being here, for your support, your encouragement, for making Vocal Type what it is today. This is my dream job, and I look forward to keeping it that way. So whether you simply follow us, have bought from us, shared your thoughts and work with us, or even worked with us, thank you. Here's to an even better 2025. Thank you.

12/11/2024

Hey everyone, I'm extremely late with this, but I'm trying to keep track of all the projects we worked on this year (21) that I can share. I'm sorry if didn't share this sooner as they're all sold out, but I hope you like it.
In collaboration with and the creative agency , we had the opportunity to design a sticker inspired by the iconic lettering of the Village Cigar signs, as part of a larger effort to preserve the unique signage of Greenwich Village. The project also featured a custom LEGO set, designed to capture the architectural essence of the neighborhood, allowing people to engage with its rich history in an interactive way. Additionally, our typeface, VTC Marsha, was used in the creation of a sticker for the Stonewall Inn, further connecting the project to the legacy of LGBTQ+ activism in the village. Through this collaboration, we contributed to honoring Greenwich Village’s vibrant past while supporting ongoing efforts to protect its cultural and architectural heritage.
More projects to come!

12/04/2024

I'm finally back with more from _The Time Is Always Now: Artists Reframe the Black Figure_ exhibition . It was a true pleasure working with the amazing folks at the museum, , and more.
For this project, we had the opportunity to design the wordmark and custom typography for this beautifully curated exhibition. Based on early versions of VTC Spike, the typography is a great representation of the title. It has a sense of urgency, matching the first part of the title ("The Time Is Always Now), but with the softness of a human figure.
This work can not only be seen through out the exhibition, but also in the capsule collection available in the PMA shop.
If you find yourself in Philly sometime soon, I highly recommend stopping by.
More to come!

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