Custom type design
A custom typeface can anchor a strong visual identity, giving an organization a tool to maintain consistency at every level. We create type that puts control of your brand firmly in your hands.
Our collaborative process
Here’s an idea of what to expect when you collaborate with us on a custom typeface.
Research and visual audit
If you have an existing typographic system, we review it and speak with stakeholders to understand what is and isn’t working.
Discovery findings
We complete our research with recommendations to guide our next steps. Together, we align on aesthetic direction before design begins.
Initial concepts
Based on what we learn during our research phase, we deliver concepts in several different territories to build consensus with your team and narrow our design direction.
Beta font testing
From our concepts, we create a beta font—typically a full alphabet and basic punctuation—for you and your team to test. We incorporate your feedback in revised versions for further rounds of testing.
Final typeface design
We build out the extended character set, supporting Latin-based languages and other scripts if needed. We also add robust OpenType features and TrueType hinting.
Font software and support
We engineer technically precise font software, tuned to your priorities across current and legacy systems. You’ll get the formats you need—including variable fonts—and we support you through implementation.
The value of a custom typeface
Our continuing partnership with XYZ Type always comes back to their high craft, creative vision, and ability to express our clients’ strategic objectives through world-class typography.
Mike Knaggs, executive creative director, Interbrand
Creative control
A custom typeface is designed based on your guidance and specifications. You can take part in the process from start to finish, ensuring the outcome fits your organization’s needs.
Brand integrity
We optimize our custom typefaces to work with existing assets and accurately express a brand at scale.
Adaptability
As a brand evolves with time, so should its typeface. Unlike an off-the-shelf font family, we can tweak or expand a custom typeface to fit changing needs.
Potential cost savings
In certain cases, a custom typeface can be more cost-effective than overpriced licensing fees.
Reduced vendor reliance
A one-time development fee, as opposed to subscription-based licensing, means one less vendor on your monthly fee list.
Custom-tailored fonts
For a quicker and more cost-effective option with similar benefits, we can custom-tailor one of our existing typefaces. We can redesign individual glyphs for a proprietary brand expression, adjust proportions based on use cases, add new styles, extend language support, and more.
Custom type design case studies
We replace two conflicting sans serifs with a custom typeface, streamlining the visual representation of an extensive catalog of cloud-computing products.
Working with Brunswick Creative, we capture the essence of a classic logo in a versatile and feature-rich script typeface for broad marketing applications.
Handpainted lettering on an 1870s streetcar inspires our boisterous monospace typeface for the leading visual identity conference.
Interbrand challenges us to unite a growing portfolio of divisions and products with a custom typeface that ties to this British institution’s legacy.
Building on our technical expertise, we transform sign painting into a collection of color fonts celebrating Jose Cuervo’s two-century-old business.
The multifaceted personal identities of a design studio’s partners inspire a peculiar variable typeface with a striking range of voices.
For an organization promoting women's equality, Champions Design requests clever compression of a typeface so that a long name can scale to epic heights.
We extend the capabilities of Boston-based studio Upstatement, developing custom lettering and type integral to their identity system for the growing university.
Our passion project celebrating a favorite typeface designer finds its perfect home in Champions Design’s updated identity system for this prestigious university.
Let’s make a typeface together—email us to discuss how we can help.