One Way Typeface Design

One Way is a free typeface designed by Intercity to mark the beginning of the new year - an occasion that currently seems more important than ever.

Throughout 2020, society has had to find fast solutions to ever-changing problems - the most basic of which being freedom of movement. With social distancing and the 2-meter rule becoming the new normal, make-shift signage created using 2-inch sticky tape has appeared on floors and walls across the world.

These improvised directional signs and arrows are the inspiration for One Way, an alphabet created to reflect the changing times that we now find ourselves in.

The idea for the alphabet started to form back in the spring of 2020, when we first started photographing the arrows and rudimentary typography created with tape in local public spaces. Bold typographic shapes combined with brightly coloured tape and well-worn flooring has created a visual language that symbolises the current global crisis.