What If Your Subtitles Could Express Emotion? With Frederik Merkel | The Typecast Episode 73

Written By Emily Caulfield

What if your subtitles could whisper or shout, just like the person speaking? That’s exactly what Frederik Merkel (aka Freddi) is building. We met Freddi at South by Southwest and were instantly blown away by his startup, Phont, which is developing expressive caption technology that analyzes audio and translates it into dynamic, emotionally-expressive subtitles. Think kinetic type but automated, accessible, and built for real content.

In this episode, we dig into the full story: how Freddi went from finishing a master’s thesis in type design to co-founding a startup with no business experience and what it really takes to go from concept to product. We also get deep into the neuroscience side of things: synesthesia, aphantasia, the Ira Glass gap, and how understanding different brains perceive the world shaped Freddi’s research from the very beginning.

All that and more when you listen to this episode:

  • How Freddi’s master’s thesis became a startup idea

  • What expressive captions are and why they matter

  • The transition from type designer to co-founder

  • How Phont navigated public funding in Germany

  • Building demos without a parametric font (yet)

  • The Phont Adobe plugin that’s coming soon

  • Synesthesia research and how it shaped the font design process

  • How to support or pilot Phont right now

Connect with Frederik Merkel

Phont: https://phont.ai/ 

Phont on IG: https://www.instagram.com/phont.official/ 

Freddi on IG: https://www.instagram.com/freddimerkuri/ 

Freddi on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/frederik-merkel-design/ 


Mentioned in this episode:

  • Phont: https://phont.ai/

  • Michael Havakamp - Synesthetic Design

  • Melanie Scheer - Aphantasia

  • OHno Type Company

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Emily Caulfield
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What If Your Whole Career Was Just Practice for the Work You Were Meant to Do? with Jeanetta Gonzales | The Typecast Episode 72