Creative agency gets revenge on vandals… with a font

Revenge is a dish best served… creatively. Or at least it is when you’re a creative agency who’s office has been defaced.

While the best graffiti fonts are perfect for the right project, most people don’t want them scrawled over the face of their building. So DUDE London’s offices got tagged, it decided to exact typographic revenge. It appropriated the spray-painted lettering and made it available to all. And so the concept of a ‘revenge font’ is born.

DUDE London’s Vyner Street HQ – facing Regent’s Canal in East London – was defaced with graffiti late last year. The agency says that rather than getting outraged, they decided they wanted to turn the graffiti into a creative, commercially viable gift to the community, and to give the scrawl more artistic value in the process.

So they created a font based on the forms of the letters. The result is Rusht Gewey Hotsex Pistol Pete Sans, which is named after the string of words painted on the office wall. It can be downloaded for free via a dedicated website: https://revengefont.com.

The agency has even hung a banner on the building to advertise the font with an arrow pointing at the graffiti and the words: ‘Get this font’ plus a QR code linking to the website. DUDE is inviting those who download the font to make a donation to the arts and education charity Bow Arts. A ‘font-raising’ party is also planned.

Joe Ribton, a creative at DUDE, said: “We are very proud of our building in East London among all the creativity that defines this corner of the city, which is so well encapsulated in the amazing street art that locals (like myself) see on every free bit of wall space. So, when the graffiti gods cursed us with something lazy and a bit rubbish, we decided to use our creativity to get our own back.

“The Revenge Font felt like the perfect solution: we’re not doing this for money, we’re doing it for fame… with a side of vengeance. Ultimately, if we can help Bow Arts get an increase in donations, then next time the building gets tagged at least the art will be better!”

It’s always fun to see creative agency being so creative even when it’s not working on a project for a client. And it’s a good sign when they can turn an attack of vandalism into a spot of promotion and give something to the community at the same time. I just hope Pistol Pete isn’t too miffed.

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