Serrano: a custom typeface for Bank of New Zealand

[kris]

This topic was imported from the Typophile platform

Kia ora folks,

The rebranding of BNZ by DNA Design has just gone live. They're using Serrano, a custom typeface that I whipped up for them. Kiwis will see the new rebrand roll out through the country over the next few months. Your thoughts are welcome, as always.

--K

[dezcom]

Serrano looks like a clean business face that should meet the demands of your client. The italic, although a bit of a departure from the roman, has a much more friendly feel to it. This difference can be used to advantage when a dry business is trying to make an appeal to a human customer.
When you say "whipped out" it sounds like you mean you knocked this out in a few weeks time :-) How long did it really take?

Good crip work as usual, Kris.--best of luck with your rollout!

ChrisL

[victor ivanov]

Serrano is a stunner!
The characters have a friendly feel, some letter forms Resemble feijoa which may be unintentional, but is definitely a good thing! I wonder what they would look like when paired. Will this ever be available for retail? And do tell us how long this took you.
Great job as always!

[kris]

Thanks for your kind words! I was briefed to design a typeface that was 'friendly, approachable, easy and helpful', so that's why it looks like it does. It will be available for retail in October 2013, they have a 5-year exclusive. I've just checked the first .vfb—it was created 24 July 2008, the final .vfb was sent for mastering on 30 August 2008. I don't know how many weeks that is, but you get the idea.

--K

[agostini]

WOW love it...saw the tv ad yesterday
and was wondering what it was...
Looks awesome bro! But I'm a big
fan of your work anyway!!

Jörg

[dezcom]

Snappy work in that timeframe! Well done!

ChrisL

[Graham McArthur]

Great work Kris, well done.

[victor ivanov]

had a look at it again, not sure why it reminded me of feijoa.
they look completely different.
i guess i don't function that well in the morning...

[poms]

My personal wish would be an interpretation of an informal sans made by Kris earlier than 2013 … :)
BTW Great friendly face! Especially the beautiful contrast between the "normals" and the italics. And … rendered really good in the online ads.

Grüße

[Dav]

I really like it. (It reminds me of Albert Pinggera's 'Strada'. Especially the bold weight/s.) Love the italic.

Dav

[Fredrik]

I think it meets the brief perfectly. Very nice!
I would be interested in hearing about the relation to the bank's wordmark - its letterforms seem related to Serrano in 'feel' -; which informed the other? Was there a dialogue with the branding agency during development, and what motivated their decision to commission a new typeface?

Kris, is 'z' your favourite letter? The italic 'z' is almost too cute ;)

/Fredrik

[omb]

Gorgeous design, it's definitely "business casual".
I am also interested in hearing about where the wordmark, and the general branding overhaul fit into all this.

Fantastic work on the typeface.

Poking around the site this PDF shows just how major of a transformation has gone on since their last branding effort.

I am very curious to see where the brand is heading visually with similar design challenges, as they have lost a great deal of the sternness and heritage evoked by the previous mark.

[kris]

Thanks guys! I was waiting for the Strada comparison… I had a mini panic attack at one stage when I realised that Serrano was looking close to Strada, so I asked Erik Spiekermann for advice & he said it wasn't close enough to worry. The rounded terminals are actually suggestion from the AD after an early proof. At that stage there were no rounded bits—just normal square terminals. He suggested rounding on the uprights:

and curving the 't' tail to a point:

I responded with a new draft with the suggested upright treatments and additional rounded-to-a-point terminals on a,c,e,f,g,j,l,r,s,t—as it would look weird just having it on the 't'. The AD/client liked it & that was that!

As for the logotypes, they were drawn in-house & sent to me to polish. I'm not sure at what point they were started or what the references were, but they are a bit different from Serrano. I'm not entirely sure what motivated them to commission a custom face, perhaps they weren't entirely happy with anything currently available for retail?

--K

[NigellaL]

Well done Kris all I can say is Wow! I'm sure everyone here will agree with me that you truly are the best new type designer since Nick Shinn! Is that nice logo based on the font too? The z looks different and I like the one in the font much better.

[Matthew Nicoll]

The fonts nice, no question. It definitely fits the brief you were given. Not sure about what they did with the logo though. DNA should have incorporated the old logo into it. I think I might change banks now to be honest..

[haag]

I can't help to say that it does reminds me of my Foco...
http://www.daltonmaag.com/browse/fonts/dama/foco/standard/focobold#

[norman murison]

Greetings All,
I came across this website while trawling the net for some help with a graphics problem. I am an engineer who knows as much about graphic design as my arse knows about snipe shooting. However I must create a stylised logo for an earthmoving bucket product range. The company name is Venco (how inspiring is that?) I had hoped to do something around the letter V. That’s where the inspiration dried up! Can any of you brainy guys kick me in the right direction. PS I am based in Africa and graphics agencies are not quite ten a penny. Thanks in advance.

[dezcom]

Norman,
It would be best to start your own thread on this matter.

ChrisL

[William Berkson]

Nice, though less innovative than your other stuff. Also the rounded-with-a-point terminals aren't working for me.

[RahimSnow]

It looks amazing, Kris. Just saw it in action on their website. It makes me feel like they are a friendlier bank. You really have a talent for getting a feel for your clients are looking for. And given that you've created typefaces that lean slightly more toward the warm & friendly side (Feijoa, National, Hardys), it is remarkable that you can create Serrano and still not make it look like these others.

Congratulations! and much success to you!

Rahim

[kris]

Thanks for all your kinds words thus far, especially you Nigella! It has been quite a while since you've posted on these forums.

Fabio: I can honestly say that up until now I was quite unaware of your Foco. Is there a page where I can read about it?

Bill: Less innovative? I'm not sure that I needed to be so 'radical' designing a typeface for a bank. I didn't expect the terminals would work for you ;-) Perhaps you could suggest an alternative?

--K

[hrant]

I'm ambivalent about the italic* but overall, another winner!
Great job and congrats. Nice to see a bank do something right... :-)

* Maybe there's room for another, sister design?

hhp

[billtroop]

I like the design and also -- as important, or more so -- the quality of the implementation. As near as I can judge. Very pleasant - - that's a tough quality to put across.

[William Berkson]

Kris, I think you fulfilled the brief admirably. And you're right, the point was not originality. Still, to me the terminals seem to me a little tacked on, not as organic as with your other faces. Also I find the tops of the BDR a bit awkward. As to alternatives, I think the way Myriad takes Frutiger and tapers the terminals is very systematically worked out, and is quite effective, even though I think Frutiger is a more beautiful face. A more soft, swashy treatment of terminals that works is in Goudy sans, but it's too busy and informal for a bank.

[AGL]

One of the last ones to see this. Very clean and well done.