| Title | FONT RAISER |
| Brand | YAHOO JAPAN |
| Product / Service | FONT RAISER |
| Category | B02. Typography |
| Entrant | YAHOO JAPAN CORPORATION Tokyo, JAPAN |
| Entrant Company | YAHOO JAPAN CORPORATION Tokyo, JAPAN |
| Advertising Agency | YAHOO JAPAN CORPORATION Tokyo, JAPAN |
| Name | Company | Position |
|---|---|---|
| Shinya Uchida | Yahoo Japan Corporation | Chief Creative Officer |
| Daiki Matsumura | Yahoo Japan Corporation | Creative Director |
| Hiroshi Ishimori | Yahoo Japan Corporation | Creative Director |
| Takuya Hasegawa | Yahoo Japan Corporation | Creative Director |
| Yahoo! Japan Cannes Project Team | Yahoo Japan Corporation | |
| Rintaro Shimohama | Creative Director | |
| Shinya Wakaoka | Creative Director | |
| Naoki Nishimura | Creative Director | |
| Mitsutaka Uenoyama | Amana Inc. | Producer |
| Harumi Ikeda | Photographer | |
| Mizu Iwasawa | RIZING Inc. | Retoucher |
| Yu Tanaka | CINQ CO./LTD | Producer |
| Mizuho Toyoshima | CINQ CO./LTD | Production Manager |
| Takeo Hatai | Le Pivot | Motion Design |
| Junichi Oguro | Sound Design |
The challenge was to find a local specialty that represents its identity and also survived the disaster. Finding something local people can be proud of was crucial as our objective was not only to raise fund but also to restore people's confidence to continue their business. Once we found the perfect resource, which was the local sense of design, then out challenge turned into how we can share it to the world.
Font Raiser is a self-promotion project. As a leading e-commerce company in Japan, Yahoo! JAPAN was seeking for a way to support livelihoods of local shop owners in northern Japan. The region has been struggling to recover from the aftermath of great east Japan earthquake in 2011. Sales of the local shops have fallen drastically since the massive tsunami destroyed tourist attractions, neighborhoods, and their local specialties. Our goal was to raise fund to support the region and also restore confidence of these shop owners by utilizing our digital expertise and their local specialties.
As we looked for a local specialty in the region we came to realize that signboards hanged in front of local shops were great treasures. The fonts on these signboards were unique and charming because they were handmade by the shop owners. Once we found this great resource, we collaborated with the shop owners to re-produce them. We analyzed few characters of each font and reconstructed them to create a complete set of brand-new fonts. Once we brought new life to the old fonts we made them available online so anyone can enjoy its unique design.
We introduced the unique fonts of northern Japan on Font Raiser website with a tool any users can design their own signboard. We also sold the fonts online to raise fund for the local shops we support. The fonts inspired designs of various products including t-shirts and bags. Font raiser created a huge buzz online and became a viral sensation. And most importantly, it helped restore confidence of local shop owners with the help of their own creativity.