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FIRST — A Typeface of First Words

Monotype × Penguin challenged us to explore diverse reading habits and the changing nature of reading — and how typography can make words feel more personal and meaningful.

FIRST starts with the first word we learn to write: our own name. The typeface is built from the earliest writing attempts of 26 children aged 4–6, with each letter coming from a different child. One letter, one child, one unique hand. The typeface isn’t designed — it’s collected.

Launched through public billboards in London, Berlin and New York, each poster features a name in FIRST and a question beneath it. The project extends into an Instagram filter, a schools programme and a free download, allowing the typeface to grow and inviting people to see themselves in the act of reading.

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Title slide: the word First written in the FIRST typeface over a portrait of a child, with the line A typeface of first words
The brief and the answer: The way we read is changing, Start at the beginning
Specimen of the complete FIRST alphabet in upper and lower case, each letter handwritten by a different child
Campaign slide Before everything, next to two poster mockups showing the names Helen and a name in Arabic script
Poster with the name Omar written across a child’s portrait, alongside two further posters
Three portrait format posters side by side with the names Omar, Gustav and Marie
Campaign rollout: 8 Billion people, all the same first word — Where FIRST lives
Billboard with the Omar poster in a city street, with two lamp post banners beside it