Typography is often the result of meticulous craftsmanship and deep cultural significance, but rarely is it shaped through collective funding. JinXuan, East Asia’s first crowdfunded typeface, broke this mold and became a symbol of innovation in Taiwan’s design community. What started as an ambitious campaign evolved into a movement that reshaped Taiwan’s approach to typography.
Introduction: Why JinXuan Matters
Several years ago, there was a time when Taiwan’s type industry faced a crisis. Unlike Latin fonts, where a wide range of choices existed, Taiwan’s font landscape was stagnant. Several key challenges existed, including limited font options, incomplete character sets, and widespread piracy. Designers frequently turned to Simplified Chinese fonts from China, despite the considerable differences between Traditional and Simplified Chinese The main difference between Traditional and Simplified Chinese lies in the complexity of their characters. Traditional Chinese characters have more strokes and are used in regions like Taiwan, Hong Kong, and Macau. Simplified Chinese characters, which were introduced to increase literacy, have fewer strokes and are used mainly in Mainland China, Singapore, and other part of the world., or even borrowed fonts from Japan.
This shortage of fonts led to both design and identity crisis. While neighboring countries like China, Japan, and South Korea already had well-established CJK font industries, meanwhile during 2004-2014, there were only five fonts designed in Taiwan, highlighting the urgent need for high-quality Traditional Chinese typefaces that could preserve its cultural heritage and meet the demands of modern digital design.
The Beginning: Crowdfunding Campaign
The concept behind JinXuan was both simple and bold: Could a typeface be created with direct public support? Traditionally, type design projects are funded by companies or private investments. However, the creators of JinXuan believed that the design community and the public were ready to support a typeface rooted in Taiwanese culture, made for and by the people who would use it.
In 2015, the JinXuan crowdfunding campaign launched on flyingV, Taiwan’s version of Kickstarter. justfont introduced the project with a clear vision, compelling narrative, and visuals that showcased the font’s potential. The initial goal was 1.5 million NTD (around $46,000). To everyone’s surprise, the campaign hit its target in just 76 minutes and continued to exceed expectations, raising nearly 26 million NTD (about $860,000) from over 9,000 backers. This success not only made JinXuan one of Taiwan’s most successful crowdfunding projects but also revealed a strong demand for high-quality, culturally significant Taiwanese fonts.
The Design Process: Bringing JinXuan to Life
The name “JinXuan” was inspired by one of Taiwan’s most famous tea, symbolizing the craftsmanship behind the font, designed to honor Taiwanese traditions and share the island’s rich culture with the world. It marked justfont’s first retail font product, receiving strong support from the Taiwanese public. JinXuan offered a complete “Traditional” Chinese font family, expertly crafted for modern digital design. By 2018, four years after its debut, JinXuan had received multiple updates, growing into a versatile font family with nine weights and over 130,000 glyphs.
Creating JinXuan was a long and complex process. The design team aimed to balance aesthetic beauty with functional versatility, ensuring the font captured Taiwan’s unique visual identity while being adaptable for both digital and print use. Traditional Chinese calligraphy heavily influenced the design, blending it with contemporary design principles. Each character was carefully crafted for both legibility and visual harmony. Throughout the process, community feedback played a vital role, with backers and users helping refine the font, making it a truly collaborative effort.
JinXuan Transformed Taiwan’s Typography
JinXuan’s success had a profound impact on Taiwan’s design industry, proving that crowdfunding could be a viable model for typeface development. It challenged the traditional view of type design as a business-to-business industry, showing that individuals were eager to invest in fonts that reflected their cultural identity.
The typeface was quickly adopted by brands, publishers, and cultural organizations, solidifying its influence. Its success inspired other type designers to explore crowdfunding and alternative funding models, sparking innovation and diversity within Taiwan’s type industry. JinXuan became more than just a typeface, it was a case study in how community-driven projects could transform and elevate a creative field.
Future of Crowdfunded Typefaces
JinXuan’s journey from concept to widely used typeface proved that typography is more than a technical craft, it’s a cultural expression that people are eager to support and celebrate. Its success opened doors for future projects leveraging crowdfunding to bring regionally inspired typefaces to life.
Building on JinXuan’s success, justfont continued its momentum by launching “jf 字友社,” a program supporting independent type designers. This initiative serves as an incubator, offering resources to help designers develop their fonts from concept to production. Participants receive mentorship, feedback, and marketing support from justfont’s team, while their projects are crowdfunded to bring ideas to life. To date, justfont has helped create over five fonts through this program, reinforcing its commitment to advancing Taiwan’s typography industry.
Conclusion: JinXuan’s Lasting Influence
JinXuan’s impact goes far beyond its striking letterforms. It represents a shift in how typefaces can be created, funded, and embraced by a broader audience. By harnessing the power of community and innovation, JinXuan transformed Taiwan’s typography industry and set a global precedent for designers. As East Asia’s first crowdfunded typeface, its story underscores that great design is not just about aesthetics, it’s about connection, collaboration, and cultural storytelling. In 2019, during ATypI Tokyo, we were excited to introduce JinXuan to the world for the first time, a moment we proudly shared with the global community.
justfont’s business model offers a unique example in the typography world, showing how a community-driven approach can spark both innovation and success. Their message is clear: it’s never too late to start, and no effort is ever wasted. This remarkable journey stands as a testament to what collective support from the typography community can achieve, a legacy that Taiwan can proudly share with the world. justfont remains dedicated to nurturing a vibrant, innovative type design industry, not just in Taiwan, but globally.
