Based in Winnipeg, Manitoba, BLKBK design studio has been leaving its mark on the world of graphic design since 2013. Founded by Derek Campbell and Justin Graefer, BLKBK’s work exudes passion, inspires artistry, and radiates a soul that runs far deeper than most of its contemporaries.
Creative freedom and expression are especially important to the design studio, with strong focus given to handcrafted, hand-painted letters. Much of BLKBK’s own inspiration finds its source in the nostalgia of the 70s and 80s, particularly vinyl album art, VHS tape covers, and the graffiti of the hip hop scene.
“At a young age I discovered hip hop music and its culture,” Derek told us. “I was instantly drawn to graffiti as an art form and it became my main source of inspiration when it came to crafting my own lettering and scripts.”
Derek and Justin both bring their unique styles to the BLKBK table, applying them liberally to hand lettering, type design, brand identity, and graphic design. They prefer organically-crafted textures, which is why their letterforms are typically created by hand with ink, paint, and brushes. The act of working by hand with real-world materials gives their type designs a richer personality and a more meaningful spirit.
One of their most recent releases is Special Touch, a beautifully written cursive script with a subtly feminine touch. Special Touch is reminiscent of old-school handwriting, recalling the days of carefully handwritten letters and cursive still existing as a standard course in the average classroom. While it’s a shame that few people write in cursive anymore and students are not typically graded on their penmanship, Special Touch brings an element of those bygone days back to us, making it easy to craft authentic cursive writing in digital design projects.
Featuring delicate curls and sweeping strokes, Special Touch is warm and familiar, like a handwritten note from your favorite elder family member – the one who always feels like home. This font adds a personal touch to any design project, including album art, merchandise, apparel, advertising, social media imagery, photography, logos, branding, identity, and product packaging.
Featuring standard ligatures and stylistic alternates, Special Touch extends multilingual support to Basic Latin, Western European, Euro, and Pan African Latin languages for global accessibility.
BLKBK currently offers 111 products through YouWorkForThem, a beautiful array of expressive typography to suit a wide variety of graphic design projects. Visit their portfolio to view the rest of their work and check back often to catch their latest additions! If you love handcrafted type designs, BLKBK is going to be one of your favorite design studios to follow.
