Brett Hilton
CFAC Creative Works Contest
2024 Winners
Brett Hilton | Visual Media
2nd Place
Design | Graphic Design
Brett Hilton is studying graphic design with the hopes of working in type design after he graduates. He loves donuts: “In every city I go to, I try all the donut shops.”
"Each of us does not need to be perfect or achieve a certain standard individually, but instead it is our imperfections and uniqueness that contribute to the beauty of creation as a whole. "
By Brett Hilton
I learned and experienced so much at Typographics 2024, more than I expected. I got to experiment with some of the newest software in type design and met many of the people that developed those softwares. I personally met and heard inspiring lectures from some of the big names in design and type design today, including people like Michaël Amzalag and Mathias Augustyniak from M/M, Andrea Trabucco-Campos from Pentagram, Christian Schwartz, Paul Barnes, Greg Gazdowicz from Commercial Type, and letterer Michael Doret. I learned from experts in the industry about the rich history and the potential futures of typography. This experience broadened my perspective as a designer, helped me connect with other designers, and gave me the opportunity to strengthen my design skills.
During one of the workshops I attended, I heard this quote from Matthew Carter: “A typeface is a beautiful collection of letters, not a collection of beautiful letters.” The idea behind the quote is that each letter on its own does not need to be, in fact, should not be exactly perfect and beautiful. It is not worth the time and effort to try to get every excruciating detail exactly perfect. Even if you do, the whole character set may not work perfectly together. Instead, focus on the typeface as a whole, making adjustments to individual characters as needed, not requiring that each individual character be precisely one way.
I immediately thought about this as an analogy for people. Each of us does not need to be perfect or achieve a certain standard individually, but instead it is our imperfections and uniqueness that contribute to the beauty of creation as a whole. Kind of like the idea that we are all members of the body of Christ, and each of us had inherent divine worth.
I walked away from the conference with a typeface that I designed myself, a greater appreciation for the heritage of type design, and fresh well of inspiration to pull from as I continue to effectively communicate complex and important messages visually to my community and to the world.