Hello from the East of England

Michael Gills

Hi all, my name’s Michael Gills, a designer based in the UK. I’ve been rummaging around TypeDrawers for a while, so I thought I should introduce myself.

I started out as a type designer, I’m currently a graphic designer and as I approach retirement, I’m attempting a comeback as a type designer. If you don’t mind a quick read, I’ll join the dots in a bit more detail.

If you’re not into reading and just want to see what my work’s like, there’s my website or my Behance page, which also features a couple of work-in-progress designs: Kingly Roman Display and Portnall Sans. 

• https://www.behance.net/michael-gills 
• https://www.ulga-type.com/

Way back in 1988, I joined Letraset as a trainee type designer, where I produced other designers’ typefaces and converted analogue artwork to digital. I also designed around ten of my own typefaces. Sadly, after seven years, I took redundancy.

I loved working in the Type Studio (we still meet up in London twice a year) so the redundancy hit me hard and my enthusiasm nosedived. I stepped away from type design, intending to pick it up again in a year or two, and switched to graphic design instead. 

However, for reasons I don’t even understand, I couldn’t reignite the spark. Apart from a few sporadic releases (which were unfinished designs left over from my Letraset days), I didn’t complete any new typefaces until 2019, when I released Rahare Sans on MyFonts. 

I wrote an article explaining why I started again. Ditto, if you don’t want to read – essentially, I went through cancer twice and the experience shook me back into lettering and typefaces.

https://www.ulga-type.com/rahere-sans-typeface-cancer-experience.php

Since then I’ve released fourteen more designs and Rahere is growing into an eclectic superfamily. My new designs are a mixed bag: some are OK; others are a bit flaky. Realistically, I don’t think I can (or want to) ever fully escape from my Letraset-ephemeral-display-font mindset.  

More importantly, I’m getting my groove back. On the downside, there are a few stumbling blocks:

Time: At the moment, I can only spend one or two days a week on type design and some evenings. I’m hoping to take some of my pension next year and that will give me an extra day. 

Sales: They’re abysmal, literally non-existent. I realise that earning money from type design is a totally different beast these days – I’m still grappling with the changes in technology (OpenType, Variable fonts, AI, etc.) and the shifting industry landscape – plus there are so many good designs out there already. Releasing a new design feels like trying to get on a London tube carriage in rush hour when the doors are closing. No excuses though; I need to put some serious work into the marketing and business side. 

Direction: I find myself at a crossroads. With the limited time I have, do I carry on expanding my library or do I pause for a while to concentrate on marketing/business skills and raising my profile? 

As I shuffle along the path to old age, my ultimate aim is to have a small type foundry, releasing a modest output of display and text designs, mixed in with the occasional lettering project. I don’t have big ambitions, but I’d like to get off the bottom rung of the ladder if possible.

Thanks for reading (a bit longer than I planned).

Andreas Stötzner

Hello Mr. Gills, thanks for letting us know and Welcome to this place! 

First I’d like to express my good wishes for your health … I really like your designs. Keep on going your own path. The business side of the moon is a dark one nowadays, so clear up for yourself, what is your priority: design or business. Maybe the greatest potential is in your freakish display designs? Don’t let the business issues spoil your joy in designing fonts.

Mark Simonson

Welcome, Michael! 

Nick Shinn

Welcome!

André Simard

Welcome, Michael! Your work is impressive.

Thomas Phinney

Welcome back to type, Michael!   

John Butler

It’s an honor to have you here! I always liked your Letraset text fonts from the 90s. I remember staring at a feature about Elysium, Charlotte and Gilgamesh in U&Lc, as I recall. I quite like your latest designs as well.

Miles Newlyn

Hi Micheal, welcome.
Did you know Philip Kelly?

Michael Gills

Thank you everyone for the warm welcome and nice comments.

@Miles Newlyn Yes, I remember Philip Kelly. He was at the manufacturing plant in Ashford and I was based in London, so I only saw him very occasionally.

@John Butler Thanks! Apart from Charlotte Sans & Fling, I'm not sure I like the stuff I did then (plus Monotype gets all the money from my old fonts so I don't really mention them). At that time, my style was heavily influenced by Hermann Zapf, Berthold Wolpe, W A Dwiggins and Oldřich Menhart (in no particular order). I was also more pre-occupied with calligraphy & texture, so I probably had a spontaneity that I just don't have anymore. As my confidence grows, hopefully, I'll loosen up again (I feel my shapes are still quite stiff, almost forced, if that makes sense).

@Andreas Stötzner Thanks Andreas. Design, fun & experimentation are definitely my priorities this time. But until all my pensions kick in (5 years), I'd like to earn a bit more from type design so I can spend more time on it rather than doing the day job. 

James Montalbano

Good to see you here Michael. I'm an old guy too.

Stephen Coles

Great to see you hear, Michael! As you know from my FontShop days, I’m a big fan of many of your designs and appreciate your range and versatility.

Thomas Phinney

Oh hey, you did Charlotte Sans! I quite liked that, a nice humanist sans serif, before we had nearly as many of those as we do nowadays. The tall ascender on the lowercase t was quite lovely.