Summary
LO-OL is the independent type studio I founded with my wife, between Switzerland and South Korea. I own its product strategy, design, visual identity, digital commerce and frontend engineering.
lo-ol Studio
My role in the project
2014_2024
Summary
LO-OL is the independent type studio I founded with my wife, between Switzerland and South Korea. I own its product strategy, design, visual identity, digital commerce and frontend engineering.
Challenge
A type studio has to design typefaces, but also show them, let people try them, sell them, deliver the files and share knowledge, with a very small team.
Research
The studio's own practice: custom projects for clients, type releases and Hangeul workshops.
Solution
A Next.js and Sanity platform with Stripe payments and type testers, and Python tools that automate font production. 20 families, 1,563+ paying customers, 13 custom projects.
The studio in numbers
20Type families
Launched by the studio.
1,563+Paying customers
People who bought one or more fonts.
13Custom projects
Delivered for clients.
4Markets
Served by the studio.
My role & context
- Role
Founder, product designer and frontend engineer: product strategy, product design, visual identity, digital commerce and frontend engineering.
- Type design
- Product strategy
- Branding
- E-commerce
- Frontend
- Timeline
2021 – present · Switzerland and South Korea. Co-founded with my wife.
- Stack
- Next.js
- Sanity
- Stripe
- Python
- PyQt6
01
The stakes
Designing typefaces is half the work. Showing, selling and delivering them is the other half.
A type studio is a product
Beyond designing typefaces, the studio has to present them, let people test them, sell them, deliver the files and share knowledge, from custom projects to Hangeul workshops. I treat LO-OL as a product I own end to end: from concept and positioning through design, engineering, launch and iteration.
_05
The foundry: typefaces and fonts for design and beyond.
The website
_07
The foundry catalog.
02
Research
How people choose and buy fonts, and why.
Testing with the people who choose type
Art directors, design leads, creative directors, and print and digital designers tested the foundry at many points of the project. I ran more than 72 interviews to understand how people buy fonts and why, and 21 user tests on prototypes of the foundry.
Research in numbers
72+User interviews
On how people buy fonts, and why.
21Prototype tests
User tests on prototypes of the foundry.
03
Try before you buy
Letting people test a typeface in their own words.
Type testers
Typeface pages
From trying to owning
04
Beyond the shop
Projects, events and workshops around type.
A living studio
_017
Communication material for type releases.
05
Design engineering
I design the fonts, and I build the tools that sell and ship them.
What I built
- Commerce
The studio's e-commerce platform, built with Next.js and Sanity, with Stripe payments and custom purchasing workflows.
- Production tools
Python tools with PyQt6 that automate OpenType and WOFF2 generation, to reduce repetitive delivery work. Plugins that generate a variable master for each Hangul vowel and consonant.
- Stack
- Next.js
- Sanity
- Stripe
- Python
- PyQt6
Behind the shop
06
Outcome
Who the studio's work helps.
Who it helped
- Customers
Designers and brands test a typeface in their own words before buying: 1,563+ paying customers, 42% of trial downloads turning into a purchase, 64% coming back.
- Type designers
Plugins that generate a variable master for each Hangeul vowel and consonant cut a Korean standard font from 10 to 8 months.
- Learners
100+ people joined the studio's type workshops.
Engineering impact
10 → 8 monthsTo produce a Korean standard font
Plugins that generate a variable master for each vowel and consonant save designers a significant amount of time.
Commerce
42%Trial to purchase
Share of trial-font downloads that led to a purchase.
64%Returning customers
Customers who bought more than once.
100+Workshop participants
People who joined the studio's type workshops.
07
Next steps
More than a digital tool.
What comes next
- Typeface pages
A custom page for every typeface. Each typeface is paired with an illustrator, who creates its own visual universe.
- Printed specimen
A printed edition specimen, with interviews and documentary work made by the LO-OL Studio team.
Why
Digital type foundries compete on an international market. The question is strategic: do we keep running like a headless chicken, or do we offer something other than a digital tool?
