Responses by Andres Briganti, head of design; Julian Benegas, head of development; Jose Rago, partner; and Facundo Santana, partner, basement.studio.
Background: The primary purpose of our foundry’s website is to be basement’s official storefront for the typefaces we develop in-house. As part of our commitment to the design and tech communities, we’ve opened our vault doors and made our typefaces available to anyone willing to experiment with them. The site also acts as a showcase of the design work our designers and creators make as well as a creative outlet where we can share and contribute to the work of other creatives and the design community as a whole. Our target audiences are professionals, students and design enthusiasts looking to create beautiful print and digital assets, as well as potential clients that would be interested in custom-type solutions for their brands.
Larger picture: The site was not intended to be part of a larger promotional campaign, but it is the first project developed under the basement ventures umbrella. This umbrella is where we craft our products and offer partnerships with carefully curated early-stage companies to generate long-term venture returns and strategic value for our partners and clients.
Design core: The main features of the site aim to showcase the font in the best way possible. This is achieved through in-situ testing of different fonts and carefully designed layouts that display their characteristics and construction.
Favorite details: We created a distinguished and ever-evolving catalog of typefaces. Every glyph has been carefully crafted with obsessive attention to detail. The way every font is showcased emphasizes its range of possible uses and applications—for example, the unexpected way a character appears as you hover over the font menu.
Challenges: To find a balance between the full display of the font design and the site’s UX, ensuring the actions were clear and the buying process as uncluttered as straightforward as possible.
Time constraints: As with everything in design, constraints marked the way, actually helping us achieve an outcome we found successful.
Special navigational features: Accessing the different fonts in the catalog through several calls to action and access points throughout the site.
Technology: Contentful, GSAP, Next.js, Stripe, WebGL, Vercel.
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