Sam Parrett is the designer and typographer behind Set Sail Studios, an online store and digital foundry based in Bristol, UK. With a background in designing for the music industry, Sam’s typography is passionate and free-spirited, embracing a handwritten approach to his work.
Set Sail Studios’ releases are full of energy and spirit, each with a distinctive personality all their own. From characters written in a fervent hand like those in “rebel brushtype” Super Sabretooth to the 80s-inspired cursive of Bayshore, Sam has crafted letter sets in styles that will suit just about any design project.
He’s also been on the cutting edge of type design technology, exploring the versatility of OpenType SVG fonts for some time now. This technology fits beautifully with Sam’s work, enabling designers to achieve a degree of brush texture that’s never before been so realistic and his latest release, Hot Mess SVG Font, is a perfect example.
As we’ve explained in the past, OpenType SVG Fonts essentially work the same way as regular fonts do, with some subtle differences. Hot Mess SVG Font requires Photoshop CC 2017 or Illustrator CC 2018 (or newer) to use and Webfonts are not available for it; however, it includes a Regular version of the lettering for those who are unable to work with SVG fonts.
When we think of a hot mess, we think of someone who lives life to its fullest, who typically runs a little late for every appointment and who occasionally wears their shirt inside out but somehow always has it pulled together. It’s the kind of person you can’t wait to hang out with for the entertainment value alone.
Like its namesake, Hot Mess is “bold, brazen, and irresistibly fun.” A little harried and perhaps a wee bit off kilter, this type design has got it going on. A little bit edgy and a little bit loud, it’s got a heart of gold that speaks with honesty and sincerity.
Hot Mess SVG Font is handmade, featuring a realistic paintbrush texture that you’ll want to reach out and touch on the screen. Watercolor paint strokes are actually built into the font as a transparency. The high-resolution texture appears as if by magic as you type each character, making it ideal for everything from advertisements, posters, marketing materials, album art, social media imagery, book covers, product packaging, logos, and more.
If you prefer a more solid appearance or are unable to use SVG fonts, the regular version of Hot Mess provides a rough hand brush finish to its edges. It works well in all of the aforementioned design applications.
Hot Mess SVG and Regular feature 17 ligatures that are built directly into the font, giving designers the ability to create naturally-flowing hand lettering between letter pairs. These ligatures are supported by most desktop graphics and text software, including Word, Pages, Keynote, Photoshop, Illustrator, and InDesign. The ligatures will automatically be switched on in supported software. Four swashes are also included for adding underlines or stylish finishing touches, accessible by typing any of the square brackets on your keyboard.
Hot Mess extends multilingual support to Basic Latin, Western European, Euro, Baltic, Turkish, Central European, and Pan African Latin languages for design projects intended for an international audience. Please note that the support is only for the regular version; the SVG font includes a number of accents that can be added to your letters manually.
Sam also has several other SVG fonts available, including Stay Dreaming, Opulent, Havana Sunset, Crush, and Avallon.
Set Sail Studios currently offers 51 products through YouWorkForThem, providing a wide range of handwritten type designs in a variety of styles and personalities. If you love working with type designs that carry a lot of brush texture, you’re going to want to check out the rest of Sam’s portfolio and bookmark it so you can check back for new releases!
