Mehmet Reha Tuğcu is an Istanbul based type and UI designer who creates sci-fi and video game inspired fonts. “I've been glued to my PC screen ever since I was a kid and when I'm not working on a new font, I'm most likely playing video games.”

Although he had dabbled in Photoshop as a hobby, Mehmet wasn’t originally planning to pursue a creative career. While studying economics in school, he took a chance on logo design as an interim opportunity to make some money before graduating.

Okami - Brush Font by Mehmet Reha Tuğcu

“This was around the time when crowdsourcing projects was the hottest new thing. I submitted a few logo designs for a bunch of competitions and won one. It was a chat application logo for 200 bucks. Immediately after having my design chosen I was asked for vector files. I didn't even know what vectors were, I'd made the logo in Photoshop and it was a raster image. I had to learn Illustrator overnight and redesign the logo in vector.”

“This was around the time when crowdsourcing projects was the hottest new thing. I submitted a few logo designs for a bunch of competitions and won one. It was a chat application logo for 200 bucks. Immediately after having my design chosen I was asked for vector files. I didn't even know what vectors were, I'd made the logo in Photoshop and it was a raster image. I had to learn Illustrator overnight and redesign the logo in vector.”

Mehmet was able to sustain his lifestyle through these competitions for several years. “Despite the negative reception crowdsourcing sites get from designers, working for them taught me a lot about what clients wanted and how to communicate as a designer,” he shares. 

With his newfound understanding of the creative landscape and confidence in logo design, Mehmet decided to try selling his work on online marketplace places. “Back when I started selling assets there weren't many font designers out there but there was a lot of demand so I thought I'd try making one.”

Skadi Typeface by Mehmet Reha Tuğcu

At the time, resources for digital assets were scarce and Mehmet had to rely on experimentation. “There were no Youtube tutorials or Skillshare classes back then so I just installed the first font software I found and played around with it untilI made a passable font,” he recalls.

Through his trials and errors, Mehmet fell in love with the creativity and process behind making fonts. “I loved the three step process of it. Making the vectors, placing the vectors in the font software and adjusting the parameters and lastly making the preview images. It was a refreshing cycle and I made a ton of sales which helped motivate me.”

Mehmet initially designed fonts to address gaps in the market, but as time went on and his sales grew, he switched his strategy to create what inspires him. The economic independence gave him the opportunity to delve into more niche markets like floral design and wedding invitations. 

“Once you have financial freedom, you also get creative freedom. I get a lot more personal satisfaction from making sales, connecting with customers and spotting my fonts out in the wild.” 

Rampage Typeface by Mehmet Reha Tuğcu

Mehmet has been sharing his work to Behance since 2014. “Behance was the first platform I ever used as a portfolio even before I had a website. Without it I wouldn't be where I am today. Posting free fonts on Behance was probably one of the best things I did for my career.” 

Since we introduced our Assets marketplace last year, Mehmet has been selling his fonts on Behance. “I was already uploading my fonts to Behance so it's no extra work, all I have to do is upload the assets along with the images.”

One of Mehmet’s favorite fonts on Behance is Witch typeface, a spooky display typeface designed with horror titles in mind. “I've always wanted to make a webbed font with connected letters. I also love ligatures but most fonts have very similar ones with elongated intertwined characters and I wanted something different. It's a horror themed font that I released around Halloween so I was probably binge watching horror films at the time!” 

Calamity Typeface by Mehmet Reha Tuğcu

Mehmet’s advice for those looking to break into the world of digital assets is to be persistent while adaptable. “The competition is a lot fiercer and there are already a ton of established sellers with vast libraries. People expect to make sales after uploading just a couple of products but it takes time and a lot of products to make it. Don't get discouraged if an asset you spent weeks creating doesn't sell. Move on to the next one.” 

Mehmet also takes extra care to make sure that his preview images are an accurate and polished representation of the font and its application. “Make sure the product is represented well,” he says. “There are so many gorgeous fonts for sale with terrible preview images that it hurts my soul.” 

See more projects and fonts for sale by Mehmeton Behance.