Sápmi Display
Brief + objective
Sápmi Display was born from a conceptual branding that would represent the football association of Sápmi, part of the CONIFA league. The CONIFA league represents teams with a distinct people/group that are not represented by a legal nation. The Sámi from Sápmi are an indigenous people that have inhibited the north of Norway, Sweden, Finland and west Russia. Football for them is a way to inform the world about their existence and relevance, and therefore, a visual translation of their football identity became synonymous to a visual translation of their cultural identity.
This project revolved around designing a unique typeface that at its core is an extension of this brand identity, carrying the brand DNA into textual communication on medium to large sizes. Still, there are certain technical standards that a font for a football team should adhere to in order to fit the medium in which the cultural identity would be carried forward. Not only is a certain extent of sportiness expected in the letterforms, the numbers need to be exceptionally distinguishable by the referee, and any possible accents in the player names need to be accounted for.
The main inspiration for the font is the reindeer, an important cultural symbol for the Sámi people. Top-heavy curves in the letterforms and top-positioned serifs imitate the imposing silhouette of the reindeer and its antlers. Downward pointing serifs are larger than the horizontal ones to create balance by adding more visual weight to letters with large open counters and negative space. Naturally the taller uppercase characters, and the choice of curves made this typeface appear sporty enough to suit a football club.
After the design was locked in, additions to the glyph set made the typeface more culturally relevant and more complete. For instance, aesthetic ligatures for some letter pairs reflect a sense of community and unity. Also, adding the accents and special characters for all the Sámi languages would hypothetically allow them to express themselves textually, even in languages that are nearly extinct.
