Hjärnfonden

Hjärnfonden (“The Brain Foundation”) is a Swedish non-profit foundation that focuses on research and treatment for the brain. In 2022, they hired Nord DDB Stockholm for a rebrand. In turn, Nord DDB hired Bloom Type to develop a custom typeface: Hjarnslapp Display.

With Hjarnsläpp Display, the goal was to create a typography that embodied the infinite diversity of the human brain, aiming to shape the diversity and specificity of each individual through a typographic collage that applies the same formula as the brain itself. Two parts come together in a lateral symmetry to form each glyph. These two forms share both the same meaning and structure: an A remains an A, but not the same signifier: each of the original typographical forms refers to a different story and impression.

The fusion of these two different forms creates a new one, strange, quirky and raw, unique in their asymmetry and the imperfection of their junction: they reflect the diversity of our brains and their stories.

It was built from six open source typefaces, for six different typeface genres:

• Inter (sans serif grotesque)
• Playfair Display (high contrast serif)
• Roboto Slab (slab serif)
• Terminal Grotesque (bitmap type)
• Work Sans (humanistic grotesque)
• Comic Neue (rounded type, a serious Comic Sans if you will)

The typeface itself was therefore also released under an open source licence.