Graphic Design: Grey Singapore create a multi-national typeface from world flags

Maybe it’s the world cup that’s dragging out the reluctant patriot in me, but I’m seeing flags all over place at the moment, and do you know what? I’m enjoying it. Perhaps nowhere so much as in this project, Multi-national Typeface by Grey Singapore. They’ve taken every single flag in the world, and reconfigured the shapes and colours which distinguish it to create the first letter of the country’s name. Sounds tricky, but fortunately Grey Singapore are also adept at putting together brilliantly functional and very entertaining GIFs which demonstrate the composition process, making the whole thing a damn sight easier to work out.

And the effect is stunning. Letters are created in a multitude of colourways and, when applied, maintain the sense of a global nationality that the name refers to. To create a “multi-national typeface” sounds like an impossible and intimidatingly complex task, but Grey Singapore have proven that with the correct dose of logical precision and a courteous consideration of each flag’s distinguishing marks, it can be done.