Independent type design from Hong Kong.
Traditional and simplified Chinese · Japanese · Korean · Thai · Arabic · Latin
Chinese, Japanese and Korean type design
We work with design agencies and brands on custom Chinese, Japanese and Korean typefaces, logotypes and lettering. We develop companion fonts for existing Latin typefaces and brand identities.
Start with a short brief, a brand link or an existing typeface. We can help define the scripts and character coverage.
Fishman is available in Sunny and Rainy styles. The paid, licensed edition is ready to download after payment.
Waterdrop details bring a harbour-like vitality to the letterforms. Fishman carries impressions of Hong Kong and Taiwan through the shapes of written language.
Buy Fishman
Sunny and Rainy offer different stroke treatments for different sizes and applications. See the product page for details and current pricing.
Reborn raised HK$1.01 million, approximately NT$3.53 million at the time, during its two-month crowdfunding campaign, allowing the project to proceed.
Designed in Hong Kong, Reborn brings old and new forms together. Its angular strokes express the determination to stand up again and carry something of the city’s spirit into type.
Buy Reborn
The Regular and Italic bundle is available now, with Traditional Chinese and Latin characters. See the product page for specifications, licensing and current pricing.
Custom Chinese, Japanese and Korean typefaces, companion fonts and wordmarks for design agencies and brand teams.
Our work spans Traditional and Simplified Chinese, Japanese, Korean, Thai, Arabic and Latin. We plan each project around its languages, character set and applications, respecting the character of each writing system while bringing them into a coherent identity.
Type design, culture and the making of our work
Interviews with designer Roy Chan trace the background of Moodmen Font, his observations on type design, and the relationship between written language and Hong Kong culture.
Yahoo News | A returning hook and a wish to leave a typeface for Hong Kong — 14 April 2022
14 April 2022Yahoo News interviews Roy Chan about Reborn’s returning hooks and Hong Kong craft references during its 2022 crowdfunding campaign.
Hungry TV | Continuing to make Traditional Chinese type — 7 March 2022
7 March 2022Hungry TV interviews Roy Chan about making Traditional Chinese type and Reborn’s 2022 crowdfunding campaign. See the original programme context.
AndThen.hk | Making our own Traditional Chinese type — 8 February 2022
8 February 2022AndThen.hk follows Reborn from four initial characters towards a full Traditional Chinese typeface in this interview archive from February 2022.
Hong Kong Free Press | Roy Chan, Reborn and Cantonese culture
6 February 2022Hong Kong Free Press interviews Roy Chan about Reborn and Cantonese culture. Original English interview archive from February 2022.
Hong Kong Economic Journal | Ones to Watch: Reborn and Hong Kong culture — 27 January 2022
27 January 2022Hong Kong Economic Journal discusses Reborn’s forms, written Cantonese and early crowdfunding in this January 2022 interview archive.
Orange News | The beginnings of Reborn, a Traditional Chinese typeface from Hong Kong — 14 January 2022
14 January 2022Orange News discusses Reborn’s early crowdfunding, stroke variants and the difference between lettering and a typeface. Interview archive, January 2022.
The Initium | A Hong Kong type designer: protecting the city's letterforms — 23 September 2021
23 September 2021The Initium interviews Roy Chan about Hong Kong letterforms, local culture and Reborn’s angular design. An interview archive from September 2021.
P-articles | Roy Chan on Reborn: 'Hong Kong needs more typefaces' — 7 September 2021
25 August 2021P-articles interviews Roy Chan about Reborn, Song and gothic forms, and Hong Kong’s typographic vocabulary. Read the original interview context.
Orange News | Two days for a character: a young type designer's persistence — 17 February 2021
17 February 2021Orange News follows Roy Chan’s move into full-time lettering and the care involved in drawing Chinese characters. Interview archive, February 2021.
Ming Pao | A Hong Kong designer expresses himself through letterforms — 16 February 2021
16 February 2021Ming Pao explores the calendars, lettering and everyday observations behind Moodmen Font in this February 2021 interview with Roy Chan.
Learning about type
A closer look at lettering on 1980s record sleeves
10 May 2022Explore Chinese title lettering on 1980s record sleeves and the distinct forms drawn for album titles, songs and performers’ names.
Uber Move: the role of custom type in a brand identity
10 May 2022An editorial look at Uber Move, the custom brand typeface developed with Wolff Olins and MCKL, and the role of typography in Uber’s identity.
Type industry archive, 2022: Morisawa acquires Arphic
21 April 2022A historical note on Morisawa and Arphic’s April 2022 acquisition announcement, preserving the date and context of the original type industry news.
Lettering accounts from our reading list
4 February 2022Explore the lettering and calligraphy accounts collected in Moodmen Font’s original reading list, with different approaches to drawing and using letterforms.
Type notes 001 — Distance in Chinese letterforms
24 November 2021Notes on the Hong Kong lettering exhibition 繁而美的距離 and the relationship between Chinese letterforms, language and visual expression.
A wordmark study: Horlicks
9 November 2021A self-initiated Chinese wordmark study for Horlicks, exploring malt and the movement of stirring. This is a design study, not a client commission.
A closer look at lettering in advertising
9 September 2021Look at Chinese display lettering in 1970s and 1980s print advertising, and how lettering for a headline differs from a reusable font.
A wordmark study: geometric proportions and optical balance
2 September 2021A Chinese wordmark study comparing the balance, component placement and diagonal angles of 維 and 奶. An optical design exercise, not a client case study.
Five books for getting to know type and lettering
20 August 2021Five reading recommendations for getting to know letterforms, typography and the culture of making and using type, selected by Moodmen Font.
A title-lettering study: Marvel's Shang-Chi
16 August 2021A Chinese title-lettering study of Shang-Chi, exploring how construction, curves and details can respond to an existing Latin title. Not a client commission.