Video summary
The core concept behind the identity design for TypeCon Identity 2026 was to create letterforms that interact with one another like dancing partners, imbuing the typography with a sense of movement and energy. Designer Cyla Costa achieved this by utilizing high-contrast typefaces where the tension between thick and thin strokes allows the forms to play off each other dynamically. This approach extends beyond simple shapes to include the relationship between color and counter-forms, ensuring that every element contributes to an engaging visual rhythm rather than existing in isolation.
The development process was highly intuitive and experimental, beginning with hand-drawn sketches on an iPad to explore various solutions before transitioning to vector software like Illustrator for refinement. Costa worked without a specific brief, allowing her to translate the unique vibe of the Portland community and her own cultural background into the visual language of the event. She employed a reduced color palette consisting of light and dark neutrals alongside warm orange and cool blue tones, intentionally adding texture through dot patterns to prevent the design from feeling too sterile or purely digital, thereby introducing a human touch to the overall aesthetic.
To further integrate typography into the broader visual system, Costa simplified traditional typographic brackets into distinct graphic shapes that appear across various applications such as screens, banners, and badges. These simplified forms serve as versatile elements that can be recognized as abstract shapes without necessarily being identified strictly as brackets, adding a layer of subtle detail to the patterns used throughout the conference materials. The final result successfully conveys the desired energy and serves as a significant addition to the visual history of TypeCon, reflecting both the designer's personal style and the collaborative spirit of the design community.
Read the full video transcript
So the idea behind the identity began
really about making the letter forms
relate to each other in a way that they
were uh kind of dancing. They had
movement. So we tried different lockups
and I was uh drawing on the iPad so I
could try different solutions and
different styles of leather forms. And
then um I have a thing for high contrast
letters and uh uni case letters. So it
felt like this was a good solution. And
then once I had um the visual language
solution then was the big work of making
it work. All the leathers work together
not only in one lockup but in different
lockups because we have a oneline
version, a twoline version, three and
five. So the high contrast um I think
it's nice for a lockup like this because
it gives a lot of energy. So it gives
tension between what's thick and what's
thin and it makes more interesting for
the leather forms to dance with each
other. Right? So they have I think the
relationship and the relation between
color and uh counter forms they get more
interesting and I get to play with
things like this too which is a little
crazy and this Y and then the counters
are also part uh of the forms just as
important as the color. So yeah,
whenever I have it's not always that we
have the opportunity to do high contrast
letters for commission work. So whenever
I can do them for like works in which I
get to do whatever I want. Uh that's
what I do. Uh there was no specific
brief. It was pretty much just do
whatever you want, whatever feels right
for you. since I was here last last year
as a keynote speaker so I could get the
the sense of the conference of the tight
community uh here in Portland and in the
US. So I guess it was pretty empirical
in a sense that I just like felt uh what
was the vibe here and I tried to
translate that into the identity but
also like bringing my my baggage and my
cultural uh language. So usually the way
that I create is very uh intuitive.
So it's pretty much about optical,
right? So I try many different solutions
and then I put a little more meat. We
say a little more meat here, a little
more meat there and then try something
that looks balanced all together. Uh and
then when we go to vector then from from
the iPad the hand drawing I usually go
to illustrator and do the live trace and
like work in vector just to get the
sense of color and counters and then I
move to glyphs to make the thing really
uh specific and uh to make the vectors
right. So yeah, this this is usually the
workflow. I was thinking about the whole
identity at first, the lockup, the logo,
the logo versions. Uh but then of course
we had to accommodate all of that in the
identity to create all the visuals for
the conference. Uh and I chose to work
with a very reduced color palette. So
just the light color, dark color, and uh
the blue and the orange, which is a
pretty basic color palette. um a warm
and a cold color that go together. And
uh I'm I'm usually very specific about
my color palletes, but I intentionally
wanted to do this one in a simple
manner, but they do have um
very specific nuance to each of those
colors. Um yeah and then I wanted to
create some graphic elements that had
something to do of course with the the
world of typography. So I took the
brackets the three kinds of brackets and
I kind of simplified them and made these
shapes
uh to make them work with the identity.
Uh they show up on the patterns that
they're using uh on the screens and the
banners and on the badges. So yeah, they
appear here and there and they are
simple forms that can or cannot be
identified as brackets. And then since
the color palette was so small, I use
this texture. This texture of the like
the dots. Yeah. to give it a little more
um texture, tactile, you know, something
like a human touch, not let it be so
vector and so clean to give it some
noise and some flavor. Well, overall I
was very happy, very honored to be
invited to do this because well, I've
always admired Titecon and I've always
wanted to come and last year was the
first time that I was here and as a
keynote speaker. So, this was a huge
honor for me and this year to be back to
be back in Portland so soon. It's really
I didn't expect that and to be invited
to do the the identity of the event and
I've been getting a lot of nice comments
about about it. U people have been
talking to me and then they think it has
like the energy that I wanted to convey.
So, yeah, I'm happy to to be part of the
the visual history of Typcon. also.
Thank you. Thank you so much.