Before his big pivot into type design, David James Udoh was a graphic designer without formal training and with only a passion and a dream he mentions was ambitious. His curiosity eventually led him into brand design, which gave him a playground to experiment with typography constantly. He was working with type every other day, manipulating and breaking it. On many occasions, he wished certain typefaces had existed to make his work easier. Moments like that were all he needed to change the trajectory of his career.
The journey ever since has been a learning curve, spending months obsessed with details most people can hardly notice – but that’s the beauty of it. He has learnt that it is a meditative path which allows him to slow down and pay attention to insignificant things.
David’s process usually starts with collecting photos, sketches, objects and even sounds. From there, he starts sketching quite loosely, either on paper or directly in glyphs without worrying about perfection. Once he has managed to lock in the style and direction, then comes the endless refinement: testing, spacing, redrawing, testing again. Over the years he has drawn inspirations to the minds of few type designers and studios, but Ohno Type definitely stands out the most. “I absolutely love how expressive and stylistic their typefaces are. They feel alive in a way that really excites me. Their work has this energy that refuses to be boring, and that’s exactly the kind of type design I’m drawn to, the kind that has personality and isn’t afraid to show it,” he says.
Currently, he runs an independent visual archive, Caveat Emptor that collects and documents vernacular design culture in Nigeria. “Spending time with these signs made me realise how deeply design lives in everyday spaces and how much creativity happens outside formal training. It has shaped how I see letterforms, not just as aesthetic objects but as reflections of people’s stories and ingenuity.” he says.
His work Funky Waka is a funky, highly stylised serif typeface inspired by the hand-painted transit and signage designs found across Lagos and Mombasa. The font captures the essence of local visual culture, infusing elements of spontaneity and dynamic, energetic letterforms into its design. At the moment, he is currently working on the extended version in which he plans to add comprehensive support for Sub-Saharan African languages.