bic-universal

Bic Asks Customers to Pen “The Universal Typeface”

Design

A new font called “the universal typeface” is being crowdsourced by the pen company Bic.

The experiment to celebrate its ‘Cristal’ pen becoming the world’s bestseller, with over 100 billion being produced and distributed. The inexpensive ballpoint pen was first launched in 1950 in France and has since become one of the most-used stationery objects around the globe. Nicknaming the product “the universal pen,” Bic has set out to create a generic global handwriting style to match.

Internet users from around the world can contribute to “the universal typeface experiment” by submitting a handwriting sample to the website theuniversaltypeface.com Stylistic features of the typeface can also be explored through categories such as age, gender and employment sector.

“Handwriting is personal and tactile — it is unique to each of us,” asks the brand. “But what would the World’s collective handwriting look like?”

Via New York Daily News
Visit The Universal Typeface Experiment

latimes

LA Times Website Goes Mobile-First

Design

The Los Angeles Times is introducing a redesign tonight that moves the 132-year-old newspaper closer to the vanguard of mobile-first web design, with a look more closely resembling digital-only publications like The Verge than the ink-on-paper model it replaces.

Articles in the site’s various sections are displayed as tiles and feature “sharelines,” which are three very brief summaries that can be easily shared across social media. To try to better keep those readers who arrive from social media, pages can scroll forever with additional content.

L.A. Times mobile and desktop unique visitors reached 27.5 million in March, a 30% increase from the same time last year, according to ComSore.

What does it all mean?

Major publications and websites have started the digital shift. The LA Times has gone all in for mobile readership and their analytics show it to be the right move. It may seem bold, but the trend will continue. Are you doing all you can to understand your analytics and plan for the future?

Let us know if you need some help.