UNAIR NEWS – Adien Gunarta, an alumnus of Communication Science, Faculty of Social and Political Sciences (FISIP) Universitas Airlangga (UNAIR) has been discussed by the public regarding one of his works used by PSSI.
The logo of 2021 World Cup U-20 used the font created by Adien, Upakarti font. He did not sue PSSI or the party that was blaming PSSI. He is actually happy and proud of his work being used in international class events such as the World Cup U-20.
Adien revealed that his work was open for public and anyone could use it. He has also been contacted by the PSSI as a user for permission to use his work.
“After it went viral, PSSI sent DM on Twitter to apologize for not having permission yet and I answered it was no problem and they should take it easy,” he said.
The font that PSSI used is called Upakarti. The meaning of Upakarti is an award from the government to crafters and small entrepreneurs for their service and pioneering work in small and handicraft industries.
Adien also said that Upakarti font was a development of Java Popular font which he developed in 2011. In the beginning, he used an online tool called Fontstruct and in 2015, he started from scratch to create a neater Upakarti font.
“The inspiration is from the Javanese script, but it was made rather fat and rounded,” said the man from Probolinggo.
The font made by Adien was previously found in Yogya, from T-shirts sold in Malioboro and several restaurants there used Upakarti font.
Adien is also currently busy managing his own web blog called Naraaksara.com. He is developing a dictionary of typographic terms that can be understood by the wider community.
During his time as a typographer, Adien has experienced joy and sorrow. For Adien, the hobby of making letter designs is a pleasure for him and very beneficial for the community in order to develop the economy. However, there are not many people who are aware of the profession of letter designers like Adien.
Adien’s work has also been used in the film Despicable Me. The font used at that time was made open licensed and can be used by anyone. He was also happy that his work can be used by anyone and internationally. The most important thing for him is focusing on creating works that are beneficial to the general public.
Author: Aditya Novrian
Editor: Khefti Almawalia
