From film posters to advertisements, we encounter myriad typefaces (the design of different letters and characters) and styles of typography (the art of arranging text so it’s clear and visually appealing) every day.

Thanks to the growth of apps and social media, creating unique and eye-catching typography and typeface designs has become more accessible than ever.

Read on to learn about the first-ever typeface, meet the apps and games where typefaces play a key role and discover how you can create your own distinct styles.

The invention of Gutenberg’s printing press in the 15th century made use of typefaces to reproduce reading materials quickly. Blackletter was the first typeface produced, and it was based on the script commonly used in copying books by hand.

A few decades later, French printer and type designer Nicholas Jenson designed the Roman type as a more legible and space-efficient typeface. This marked the beginning of the evolution of typeface.

Today, we’re surrounded by an enormous variety of typefaces: Times New Roman was invented by the British newspaper The Times; Futura was created by Paul Renner and was based on the Bauhaus aesthetic; and Helvetica, designed by Max Miedinger and Eduard Hoffmann, has become popular for its clean simplicity.

Games often make use of original typefaces to express a specific style or mood. In Run Godzilla for example – the fun idle game where your village is tasked with raising Godzilla to race against his fellow kaiju – you’ll see the iconic Godzilla Font that’s used in the franchise’s films.

Originally designed to stand out on posters, the Godzilla Font can be difficult to read when used for smaller text. That’s why Run Godzilla pairs it with another typeface, Tekki Gothic, which allows finer print to be read with more clarity, while staying true to the beloved Godzilla vibe that movie-goers have come to love.

Typography can be important in apps, too – just look at Halide Mark ll and Spectre Camera, which both use original typefaces to convey the specific feel of a physical camera.

Halide Mark ll is a manual camera app that allows you to individually set the shutter speed, exposure, white balance, focus and more, while Spectre Camera lets you easily take long exposure photos.

Both apps were created by the same team, headed by Ben Sandofsky and designed by Sebastiaan De With. Creating original typefaces was important to them right from the beginning, starting with Halide, the predecessor to Halide Mark II.

“When we were working on Halide, we knew we wanted to provide a shooting experience that went beyond the app,” De With says. “We wanted to recreate the feel of shooting with an old film camera.

“When you install the app and open it, the first thing you see is a manual just like one you’d see for a real camera, as well as a shutter button that can be pushed in and many other features. Among them is a typeface called Halide Router, which I created with Dutch type designer Jelmar Geertsma.”

“The body and lens of an actual film camera are made of metal, so a small metal object with a round tip (like the tip of a ballpoint pen) is used to engrave letters on it,” expains De With.

“Because of this, many of the typefaces used in film cameras include straight lines and round curves that were the same size (since the metal used to engrave the letters is rounded, the curves and tips of the letters were rounded to match the metal). We designed Halide Router based on this concept.”

Designing a unique typeface is easy with apps such as iFontMaker. Trace over the guides provided in the app, then fine-tune each letter with the editing tools.

In addition to the Latin alphabet, you can create typefaces with Cyrillic and Greek letters, as well as Japanese and kanji characters. When you’re done, you can save your font to use on your iPhone, iPad or computer.

Design app Canva is packed with features that will bring your typography and typeface design visions to life. You may want to establish a clean, elegant brand design, create a standout invitation or enhance the look of your social posts – whatever your goal, the app is an indispensable resource when you want to make a striking visual impact.

Typeface and typography design has come a long way since the arrival of the first printing press. Today, designers, developers and amateur enthusiasts all have endless possibilities to explore when it comes to making an impact with every word and letter.