Interview with Joana Correia (Part 1)
Joana Correia, Nova Type Foundry. Words: Ofício, Photography: José Guilherme Marques.
Porto-based Joana Correia, founder of Nova Type Foundry, has been a great inspiration. She has helped us grow as a design studio since we first sat down here on Rua da Aliança just over two years ago.
With her support, we have worked on ideas for new projects, learned so much about Type Design and the Type Foundries business, and met and maintained contact with many of the great talents of this international community.
With Joana, we have developed things that are as useful as they are beautiful, like the Type Glossary or the reinterpretations of some of the oldest books in our library using fonts from her foundry.
The interview was done by email (although our studios are just a hundred meters away from each other here in Porto's uptown).
The photographs are by José Guilherme Marques, a well-known talent in our city.
You are a restless creative force, and your learning path is varied but consistent. Can you tell us about your education and what skills you have acquired in all these years?
I have studied Architecture at Porto University, a great place to start my education, learn hard work, and have a first approach to Design. I worked for a few years in architecture, but it didn't feel right, so I went back to study Communication Design at ESAD, finishing in 2010. There, I had the opportunity to learn with Dino dos Santos from DSType. After the years at ESAD, I applied for the MA in Typeface Design in Reading, which I finished in 2011. I fell in love with Type!
Type Design It is a way of expression through language, bringing voice to words. I like the way you can add context with the letter shapes. It is a craft and a skill combining tech and Design. I love the feeling of creating something useful for society to use.
There are choices for a young designer other than starting a business so specific as a type foundry. Why doing it?
I have always wanted to create my own business and run it.
I started Nova Type Foundry in 2018 after starting my first type foundry with Natanael Gama. The foundry aims to create expressive typefaces that inspire designers to produce excellent work with them.
So far, this love has resulted in a few awards!
Yes! I got 3rd place in the Granshan Award with the Greek from Artigo, a typeface yet to be published. In 2017, I received the TDC Award for Artigo Display. In 2022, with Loretta, one of the latest typefaces I designed with Abel Martin, I got an Award of Excellence from Communication Arts.
What are the challenges of running your business in Type Design?
The biggest challenge is to bring clients to the website, where you can have better margins and is the best place to let designers know what fonts you provide.
Another challenge is knowing where to put our energy and which kind of projects we should pursue. I have a great team that helps me with marketing and social media (well, this is us, Ofício!), which I used to do all by myself. I keep time blocks just for Design.
5 Things I've learned so far:
Keeping a healthy network of people that will help you grow.
Choosing font names is hard work
You need to create new projects all the time.
Consistency is very important
To run a foundry, you must learn business skills
My typical workday
The first thing after breakfast is walking the dog for at least half an hour. Then I get back home, where I work.
I keep one day for admin, even though sometimes that extends over the week.
I save time to design and stay in touch with others.
I usually work until 5 pm, then go for another dog walk.
I spend the rest of the day exercising, writing, reading or with friends. I love doing Pilates, swimming and surfing in the Summer.
Rules to plan my work schedule
I create goals for the year and break them down into months and weeks.
I plan the week on Monday, blocking slots in the calendar for different kinds of work. It helps me to stay focused on my objectives.
Sometimes, it takes work to follow the plan entirely, but having it helps to be more productive.
I keep to-do lists on Todoist and everything else on Notion.
