Linotype. The Lost 'e'

Linotype is a celebrated typographic company and creator of some of the most famous classic fonts, such as Helvetica® and Frutiger®. With the help of a simple yet attention-grabbing communication idea, image and awareness for Linotype should grow among the target audience of designers and creative professionals. 

Linotype reaches out to the target group and created a pleasant surprise: the lost “e.”

At surrounding URLs of popular typography sites – for example www.slanted.de – Linotype pages were created, in cooperation with the respective blog or URL owner. Users who mistyped the URL Slantd.de, Salnted.de. Slated.de...) landed on these pages.

However, the typical error message „Error: Server not found“ doesn’t appear, rather a typographical orchestration which relates to the typing mistake: Linotype and ITC® library fonts are advertised in the style of a font sample book. In a surprising way the error pages suggest the bridge from the text input in the address bar to the topic of typography. The message: “You’re missing an “e”? Linotype has a lot of them….” Linotype offers the font style in a high resolution PDF and the mistake pays off for the user because they receive something which reminds them of their little mishap. Additionally, the user is also forwarded to the actual URL they were looking for of course.

A small effort with a huge result: although at first only a limited number of users mistyped URLs and landed on the error pages, the campaign attracted a whole lot of attention and created a topic of discussion in the design blogosphere. Additionally the lost “e” was mentioned a number of times in design industry press.