‘Gilbert’: Commemorating an Icon

Type with Pride

Image credit to ‘Type with Pride’

‘Type With Pride’ is a wonderful design project created by NewFest and NYC Pride in partnership with Fontself to commemorate the late artist, designer, and activist Gilbert Baker.

Baker was responsible for creating the very first Rainbow Flag in the top-floor attic gallery of the San Francisco Gay Community Center along with a trusted team of volunteers. In 1978, they gathered a bunch of trashcans together, filled them with water, natural dye, salt and cotton to assemble the icon that was deemed by Moma as universal as the Recycling logo.

The Original Flag

“The Original 8-color Rainbow Flag.” Image credit to James McNamara.

The project has seen the creation of ‘Gilbert’, a free font inspired by the Rainbow Flag itself. There are three different weights, including an animated font with more in the pipeline. You can track the project’s progress on their development blog.

The creators talk about how they set out to achieve a font that could be applied to headlines and statements for protest equipment such as banner and signs, a very fitting tribute to the activist. Whilst the original Rainbow Flag may have reduced in colours since it’s original creation (from 8 to 6), ‘Gilbert’ is as colourful as can be.

“A flag fit us as a symbol, that we are a people, a tribe if you will. And flags are about proclaiming power, so it’s very appropriate.”

– Baker in an interview with Michelle Millar Fisher, Curatorial Assistant, Department of Architecture and Design at Moma.

It will be exciting to see how ‘Gilbert’ gets put into practice for Pride and LGBTQIA+ protests, causes and celebrations for months and years to come.

Find out more at: typewithpride.com

Lucy Sharpe
Account Manager

 

 

 

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