“Type is very much like music,” says Jeremy Dooley. “It is linear, and the notes or phrases have to fit the theme or song.” Jeremy, owner of the one-man foundry, insigne, is a self-taught type designer and a true self-made success story.

His label is home to over a hundred font families, many of which have seen great success. Aviano has made our Best of the Year list not just once, but twice and has been featured in Hollywood blockbusters. You may have noticed various iterations of Aviano in Wall Street, Harry Potter, and Thor, and it was used for the branding of Robin Hood.

Jeremy considers type to be the foundation of advanced visual communication. One form of communication that the Chattanooga-based designer is drawn to is branding. In 2011, Jeremy, took on the enormous project of coming up with a typeface that would communicate the tone and feeling of his hometown; a font that would effectively brand the city. In 2013, the result, Chatype, was named the official typeface of Chattanooga TN. “Every city needs a brand,” he says, “as every city needs to highlight its own distinctive offerings.”

Like many designers, his creations are often the result of his interests. “I especially like seeing my typefaces in movies, on luxury packaging, and for technology companies,” he says. “These are interests of mine, and I often design fonts with those specific applications in mind. It’s very interesting to me that I frequently see fonts used in exactly the way I originally envisioned.”

Since he began selling his first font on MyFonts in 2004, the man who will tell anyone who asks, “I’m not really from anywhere,” has continuously drawn inspiration from his many experiences gained from living all over the globe.

Want more of Jeremy? The designer sat down with us for an in-depth interview in this issue of Creative Characters.