As soon as upon a time, a customized typeface was a luxurious merchandise, reserved for international giants with huge budgets. You may go as far as to say it was considered as indulgent, performing because the type of jewel within the crown of a design system that would take years to develop and price a small fortune.
Consider Coca-Cola’s TCCC Unity or Airbnb’s Cereal. Whereas there is not any doubt that it is memorable, this artistic possession has traditionally been out of attain for many manufacturers working exterior that rarefied world.
Quick ahead a decade, and the typography panorama seems very completely different. Bespoke letterforms are not a “nice-to-have” and they’re more and more seen as a strategic necessity. As manufacturers stretch throughout ever-wider platforms, packaging codecs, and campaigns, kind has grow to be the glue that holds their voice collectively.
D&AD Sort 9UP – D&AD Pageant Typeface – Pencil Gothic Typeface designed by Studio DRAMA, Identification by JKR
“These letters are your model’s voice,” says Frankie Guzi, enterprise director at Studio DRAMA. “They do the heavy lifting, they carry persona, and so they create instantaneous recognition – generally with out the necessity for another distinctive belongings.”
From indulgence to funding
Guzi factors out that the change is partly all the way down to the sheer quantity of name touchpoints at the moment. From apps and billboards to AR interfaces and packaging, typography should work tougher and flex greater than ever earlier than. “Customized kind has grow to be a sensible funding,” he says.
Contemplate Heinz’s current out of doors campaigns by W+Ok, the place the sort itself takes centre stage. Even stripped of images or logos, the letters alone are sufficient to inform you what model you are .
Mozilla’s customized font, in the meantime, was designed to be extra legible on screens than Occasions New Roman, but it stays unmistakably “Mozilla.” For manufacturers like Amazon and Kellogg’s, customized fonts aren’t ornamental extras; they’re basic to how these companies are recognised and remembered.
Heinz Customized Typeface Household – Typeface designed by Studio DRAMA, Identification by JKR, Marketing campaign by W+Ok
Mozilla Customized Typeface Household – Typeface designed by Studio DRAMA, Identification by JKR, Technique by Additional
Why go customized?
When shoppers hesitate between commissioning a bespoke font or selecting one thing off the shelf, Studio DRAMA has a easy mantra: do not borrow your voice, construct your individual.
“Most manufacturers are talking with the identical borrowed voice,” Guzi explains. “Everyone seems to be pulling from the identical pool of generic sans-serifs on Google Fonts or those bundled with Adobe.
Stats pulled from google fonts, appropriate as of September 2025
“The rise of platforms like Google Fonts has created a way of typographic ubiquity. If everybody’s utilizing the identical letters, nobody stands out. A customized typeface makes your model immediately recognisable with out even exhibiting a emblem.”
The argument extends past distinctiveness. “Typography is in all places in a model system – packaging, merchandise, campaigns, interfaces,” he says. “Once you construct your individual, you are not on the mercy of another person’s design selections, and also you get a voice that is tuned to your values, your audiences, and your long-term ambitions.”
Whereas customized design would possibly sound costly, Studio DRAMA factors out that licensing third-party fonts throughout international campaigns, platforms, and merchandise shortly provides up. “A customized typeface is an asset you’ll be able to personal outright,” Guzi says. “You save over time whereas strengthening your model.”
Maybe essentially the most highly effective cause, although, is storytelling. He provides: “Sort is invisible till it is improper. With customized, it turns into a storytelling software, carrying the quirks, historical past and vitality of your model into each phrase you publish. That is inconceivable to get whenever you’re renting the identical font as your opponents.”
RSPCA Customized Typeface -–Wilberforce Sans Typeface by Studio DRAMA, Identification by JKR
Busting the myths
For all its benefits, customized kind nonetheless intimidates some model groups. Studio DRAMA usually hears the identical objections, a lot of that are rooted in fable.
Probably the most frequent is that the method is difficult. “Probably not,” Guzi insists. “A superb customized transient is rather like another design transient, the place you outline the character set, the weights, and the place the sort must reside. These selections form value and timelines, and there is completely no smoke and mirrors.”
One other concern is that it takes an eternity. “As soon as upon a time, sure,” he admits. “However now, with the fitting course of and group, a brand-new customized household will be delivered in months – generally even sooner than a worldwide rebrand – and AI instruments are going to supercharge a number of processes within the coming years too.”
Then there may be the associated fee query. “In comparison with international licensing charges that pile up 12 months after 12 months, customized is usually the smarter monetary transfer,” says Guzi. “You are investing in an ownable asset, not renting another person’s.”
Lastly, there’s the assumption that solely a kind nerd may fee it. “You needn’t know your kerning out of your counters,” says Guzi. “One of the best customized tasks are collaborative, open conversations. It is our job as a foundry to translate model wants into letterforms, to not drown shoppers in jargon.”
The influence of going customized
When manufacturers do take the leap, it is clear that the advantages lengthen far past aesthetics. A bespoke font will be designed to strike a stability between readability and legibility with out compromising its character. Mozilla’s customized typeface is a living proof, because it’s extra readable on display screen whereas nonetheless unmistakably “Mozilla.”
Recognition can be strengthened, with analysis exhibiting {that a} rising variety of rebrands now embody customized typography exactly as a result of it drives recall. Heinz’s out of doors campaigns show how letters alone can carry a message.
For advertising groups, a single customized toolkit additionally simplifies day-to-day work. As an alternative of juggling a number of licences or cobbling collectively “almost-right” fonts, there may be one constant system that works in all places. From a monetary perspective, the preliminary outlay usually pays itself again, liberating manufacturers from the continuing cycle of licensing charges.
From luxurious to necessity
Typography has all the time been a cornerstone of design, however in at the moment’s saturated and noisy market, it has additionally grow to be a marker of ambition. Bespoke typefaces give manufacturers one thing laborious to mimic, offering a voice that’s legible, ownable, scalable and unforgettable.
As Guzi sums up: “The gatekeeping days are over. Customized kind is not an indulgence anymore – it is simply one other design transient. And it is one of many smartest investments a model could make.”
