Today I’m trying an experiment: using crypto to crowdfund the typeface I’m designing, named Monogaga.
Started in January 2021, Monogaga is a new contemporary display typeface with a reverse high-contrast, extreme inktraps and bubbly terminals giving it a funky and unique personality. Its quirkiness and eccentricity are features that make it distinct and memorable.
As a Web3 enthusiast and emerging designer, I wondered how blockchains and web3 technologies could impact typeface design and distribution, and I decided to try something: crowdfund the production of a type family in exchange of tokens, $MONOGAGA.
The tokens are going to represent ownership of the typeface, and Monogaga will be released free for personal use.
The supporters of Monogaga will receive a commercial license of the font, and will get free updates as I add more weights to expand the family and add more languages support.
As co-owners of the typeface, the backers will also receive 50% of the commercial licenses sales and will be involved in the design process.
Motivation
I decided to release Monogaga as a community-owned project to experiment with a new way to fund and design typography projects, find a way to build a community, and explore what a crypto-native typeface looks like.
Usually, type designers work alone on their projects and sell their fonts either independently or with type foundries, but I would like to explore a new model where the designer gets paid as they design the typeface and share the profits of their work with their supporters. It could help compensate the tedious and lengthy effort of designing type, while creating a community wishing for the success of the typeface as they will also get a financial return when the typeface will get more popular and used.
How it works
The crowdfund is looking to raise 17 ETH in exchange for 50% of the commercial licenses sales. Monogaga will be 100% owned through its social token, $MONOGAGA. For ETH contributed, backers receive $MONOGAGA at a rate of 100 $MONOGAGA per 0.1 ETH. All token holders will have access to private discord channels in my server and will have exclusive access to the fonts prior to official release.
Each semester, I will be responsible for converting the commercial licenses payments to USDC, and the holders will receive an amount of USDC based on their share of $MONOGAGA supply.
I will also provide transparent reporting on all income generated from the typeface.
Use of funds
I’m looking to raise 17 Ethers that will be used to fund:
- Design & production of the type family
- Marketing expenses
- Website development
Projected Timeline
(**Subject to change**)
Sept. – Nov. 2022: Finalization and release of Monogaga Display Heavy
Nov. 2022 – May 2023: Production of the Light, Regular, Medium and Bold versions
May – Sept. 2023: Production of Monogaga Arabic
Sept. 2023 – later: Depending on the demand, I will start working on the Cyrillic, Greek or Tifinagh versions.
Why would someone want to own this typeface?
Participating in this crowdfund can be a way for you to support an independent creator, express your taste on-chain, receive a part of the typeface profits or be a part of typographic history.
Also I think its cool to say “I participated to the creation of the first crypto-funded typeface” (:
About Monogaga
With its unique, groovy and strong personality, Monogaga could be used for logos, musical/cultural projects, visual identities, tattoos, and more. I personally love it because it’s bold, original and loud (:
Currently at 494 glyphs, Monogaga supports 80+ Latin based languages. It also has some OpenType features such as character alternates and MANY ligatures (currently 99 and I plan to design ✨more✨).
Monogaga is a fun typeface and I can’t wait for it to be released to the world, thanks to your participation!
The Monogaga NFT Collection
To immortalize the creation of the first crypto-funded typeface family, I’m also going to sell individual glyphs as NFTs. I used Manifold to create a custom contract and listed the collection on Foundation.
I spent a lot of time creating each glyph and I think creating NFTs of them could be a nice way to showcase their individuality (:
They are listed at 0.111 ETH each, except the genesis (a) that is listed at 0.222 ETH.
I’m excited about this project and I hope Monogaga will be the first step of a new future for independent type designers where they leverage crypto to monetize their art as they work, and share their revenue with their early investors and supporters!
My Discord server is where I will publish the typeface updates and the downloadable files, so I invite you to join it! (:
About me
I’m an Ivorian artist and designer currently based in Abidjan. Some of you might know me for Zouzoukwa, a project I created to promote African cultures through emojis. My work has appeared in The New York Times, It’s Nice That, The Guardian, CNN and other media.
I learned Type Design during my first year of Master’s Degree at L’École Supérieure des Arts Visuels de Marrakech, and if Monogaga is funded I may go back there for my second year and write my Master’s thesis on the impact of web3 on Type Design. (I’m currently on an academic hiatus because I had a burnout)
You can find me on Twitter at @OPlerou, on Instagram at @oplerou.studio and on my website at oplerou.studio. My ENS address is oplerou.eth and if you want to drop me a message, my email address is contact@oplerou.studio :)
Thank you for being involved in this typographic adventure!
