In ancient times small tribes of humans roamed vast expanses of land, collaborating with nature to ensure their survival. Communities were tight knit, with many tribes totalling less than 100 people. Our modern way of life contrasts starkly from this, particularly in urban areas like London. Many of us work stressful jobs, spending all day starring at a screen. We come home and scroll social media to ‘decompress’ – but it does not help. We close the app feeling more isolated than connected.

All hope is not lost! Whilst our modern ways of life – and its many benefits – are here to stay. We have the power to create a more nourishing life for ourselves. Barefoot walking is a great way to experience nature like you never have before. Research has shown that engaging with nature through our senses can have enormous positive effects on both our mental and physical health – from regulating heart rhythms to increased cognitive flexibility.

Introducing Bareft, a barefoot trail walking scheme designed to help Londoners re-align with the natural rhythms of human life. We have mapped out 5 beginner friendly barefoot-walking trails around Epping Forest to help you reconnect with nature. Join our tribe by collecting your Tribe Member card out on our trails. Stamp your Tribe Member card at every Bareft trail you walk to track your progress. Find our tribe online – share your own barefoot walking trails with the rest of the tribe and leave notes on each other’s trails.

See the full project here

The death penalty violates fundamental U.N. human rights laws. Over 70% of countries worldwide have abolished the death penalty, and the U.S. are falling behind on human rights. Almost half of U.S. states using the death penalty mandate and solitary confinement conditions for death row prisoners. These prisoners receive little to no human contact, spending decades confined to a 7ft by 11ft cell. These conditions further violate their human rights, subjecting them to symptoms such as anxiety, paranoia and hallucinations. Activists across the country continue to fight for the human rights of the men and women on death row.

Monotype partnered with Amnesty International to create Write to Life. A campaign that uses typography as more than just a messenger. We created a typeface reflecting prison architecture that uses a 7×11 ratio, mirroring confinement cells many men and women are living in across the country. Activists can use this typeface as a symbol of resistance in their fight for the human right to life.

More than 50 death row inmates volunteered their handwriting, and we turned it into digital fonts. These fonts were integrated into our letter writing website, which activists used to write letters to state governors, urging them to use their power to put a stop to the death penalty in their state. On 10/10 – International Day Against the Death Penalty – we printed these letters and hand delivered them in bulk to state governors across the country.

This typographic campaign gives activists a striking new way to spotlight the inhumanity of solitary confinement use in death row and fight for the abolition of the death penalty across the United States.

See the full project here

The Women we Forgot is an awareness campaign highlighting the overlooked crisis in women’s prisons in England and Wales. A 20 page booklet will be handed out on Westminster Bridge from International Women’s Day 2025, presenting a range of testimonies and info-graphics that educate and call for support-focused alternatives to incarceration.

The booklet confronts people with important, difficult to hear information in a physical form. Unlike on social media, the audience cannot simply scroll away from this information and never see it again. By physically documenting the absurdities of the women’s prison system in England and Wales, we are stopping people from ignoring this issue any longer.

The project features two handmade typefaces and all images used were photographed/created for this project.

See the full project here