Hip-Hop Has Font Designer Duong Nguyen on Speed Dial

Duong Nguyen has never cared about social media likes, although he stealthily operates as Los Angeles’ go-to designer for handwritten logos, titles and other graphics. He’ll remember that it's PlaqueBoyMax's birthday but hasn’t posted that he created the 5$TAR logo. Nguyen has a surprisingly chill disposition while designing viral visuals for up to 20 clients at a time, ranging from eSports organizations to 00pium-signed rappers. His lettering stands out online for its distinct physicality: angled lines that explode across the PLUTO x BABY PLUTO tracklist, uneven Elmer’s Glue textures for Cardi B and flowing cursive for an inscription on Bad Bunny’s YHLQMDLG.

Nguyen's calligraphy is instinctive, mirroring split-second decision-making behind his long-tenured Challenger rank in League of Legends. Up close, his pen strokes hold real messaging and a tension between what's cool versus what's actually legible. “I hate when people are trying to do hand-lettered stuff and they’re just scribbling,” Nguyen remarks. “Put some thought into it, man.” He’s proof that Los Angeles’ current creative scene still has soul; co-signed by the internet’s biggest names, yet genuinely concerned with whether his friends recognize his signature style.

After years of refining his craft, Nguyen now extends his sensibilities into personal passions like food collaborations with Alvin Cailan and co-founding Red Coffee. As he integrates learnings from fine-dining hospitality into his design process, there’s a nostalgia for raw expression, like painting on T-shirts and the scrappier energy of earlier projects like Lil Peep’s Everybody’s Everything. He refers to his battered banker’s box as a “freaking gold mine,” bursting with first passes and single-word repetitions that eventually become cultural staples. “Sometimes, I think the unused stuff is even cooler.”

Below, a conversation with the unassuming creative behind some of contemporary culture’s most attention-grabbing fonts.