As part of its branding, LINE will release the European corporate font "LINE Seed Sans" globally in 2020. This time, we have jointly developed the Japanese typeface "LINE Seed JP" with the LINE Creative Center BX Design Room.
"LINE Seed JP" will be used in various scenes such as LINE's business activities and Event in the future. In addition, it will be open to the public and anyone can use it.
Typeface features
1. Familiar “Kadomaru” Gothic
The biggest feature of the existing European corporate font "LINE Seed Sans" is the roundness of the corners = "Kadomaru", which is a common identity for all characters.
This Japanese typeface “LINE Seed JP” also incorporates this feature, making it a typeface that conveys familiarity and is a little more casual and soft than Kaku Gothic.
2. Bright and mature modern Styles
Aiming for a modern yet friendly impression, it is a bright modern Gothic typeface with a wide “body” and many curves in the kana.
3. The balance of beauty and integrity unique to Japanese
The existing European corporate font "LINE Seed Sans" was developed based on unified geometric rules. However, Japanese typefaces have many variations of characters, and it is not easy to handle characters with greatly different densities such as kanji and kana at the same time.
In the development of LINE Seed JP, we repeatedly examined the comfort of reading, the beauty of the unevenness unique to Japanese typefaces, and the consistency of the shapes, and created a new modern Gothic typeface that had never existed before. It was completed.
LINE Corporation LINE Creative Center
BX design room comment
We believe that the role of corporate fonts is very important for consistent branding as a global company. Even if the Language of communication changes, the corporate font can become the voice of the brand and convey the message in the same tone. LINE is a service that has grown around text communication, and developing a corporate font is of great significance because it is a company that values words.
The design of "LINE Seed JP" was thoroughly focused on expressing LINE's brand identity and being user-friendly. With this font development, we aim to create a simple and user-friendly impression with a unique LINE font that can be used in any situation, and to enrich the communication experience for all users. .
Comment from Typeface Design Director Shigenobu Fujita
The production of "LINE Seed JP" was a big challenge for Fontworks. I felt that "LINE Seed Sans", which already exists, has a sincere and gentle personality, so I supervised the Japanese typeface with the image of "characters that give the impression of an adult smiling". We hope that “LINE Seed JP” will become a corporate font that will be loved by LINE for many years to come.
The LINE Seed website publishes font files for free. Please take this opportunity to try it.
* Please be sure to read the license policy when using.
Regarding the background of the project, we have posted an interview with the LINE Creative Center BX Design Office in detail on "Blog".
The Fontworks official note explains in detail about the LINE Seed JP typeface. Please take a look at it.