Faith Leung's #EmbraceEquity typography design is bright, bold and playful
June 19, 2023
Meet Faith Leung, a Hong Kong designer based in London with a specialty in lettering and illustration. Faith works at a well-known British publisher, Walker Books, where she designs and art directs covers as well as interior layouts for children's books of all ages, including fiction, non-fiction, picture books, and novelty.
Faith is one of the many talented women who responded to the call-out for entries to the annual IWD x Typism annual Lettering Challenge. Faith showed her support for the IWD Women Creatives Mission by creating unique artwork that celebrates the IWD 2023 #EmbraceEquity campaign theme.
Celebrating individuality and uniqueness
"Go bright, bold and playful" was Faith's approach to her #EmbraceEquity design.
Faith used two different lettering styles and forms to emphasize the two words that make up the phrase. For her, giving both words distinct treatment and stylistic features continue to embrace the message, celebrating individuality and uniqueness.
Explaining her process behind the artwork
Similar to how Faith approaches most of her artwork, the #EmbraceEquity piece was done digitally using design tool, Procreate.
Faith started by sketching variations of the word placement and the lettering style she wants to develop with this piece. After figuring out the form and structure of the lettering, Faith experimented with different color palettes until she was happy with the result.
"The last step of the process, which usually takes me the longest, is adding all the extra detail to give the piece more personality," explained Faith.
Recognizing people's different backgrounds
When asked what is means for her to Embrace Equity, Faith commented: "I believe understanding equity's importance is one step toward true equality and inclusion. Recognizing that we all have different backgrounds that come with their advantages and challenges will start impactful conversations on equitable action."
Uplifting voices of underrepresented communities
Finally, Faith described what International Women's Day means to her.
"International Women's Day means celebrating and acknowledging women’s achievements around the world. Although we should not limit ourselves to one day, we take this opportunity to continue raising awareness of the importance of gender equality. Do you have any views or comments about gender issues relating to the world of 'women and typography'?" explained Faith.
"The distinct advantage we have as female lettering artists and graphic designers is that we can be very direct with the message we want the audience to see. I’ve noticed this with many Asian female letterers/designers during the Stop Asian Hate movement over the past few years. We can say it like it is through the artwork and use that to raise voices for communities that usually wouldn’t have the opportunity before. This gives me hope to know what we can do with our power through typography to continue spreading awareness on gender issues," added Faith.