Interview with Tré Seals: Vocal Type, injecting history into design.

Graphic designer, Tré Seals, discovered that only only 3–3.5% of all practicing designers in the US are Black. That number is dramatically lower when we talk about Typeface designers in particular.

So, Tré decided to infuse more of his identity into the design world via the most basic design element used in everything, Typography. He founded the typeface foundry, Vocal Type, and designed several typefaces inspired by important historical events from various marginalized cultures. This included the Typefaces: Martin, inspired by the Memphis Sanitation Strike, Ruben, inspired by the National Chicano Moratorium movement, Carrie, which honors women’s suffrage in the US, and so on.

But how was Tré inspired by these movements to create his typefaces and how he would like them to be used? To answer these questions, Tré joined me on the phone from Washington DC to talk more about his design approach.
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